Hélène Darroze à la carte is the ultimate lunchtime luxury Food When it comes to fine dining, who says we shouldn’t have a choice, writes Carys Sharkey There is a continual grumble in fine dining, a tedious debate that flares up every now and again when a critic complains about a sore arse from sitting through a tasting menu. I love tasting menus. I should get [...]
Hilton, Butlins left fuming over business rates snub Hospitality Hilton and Butlins have been left fuming after being snubbed by Andy Burnham’s pledge to slash business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues. The two hospitality giants said that hotels and resorts have been unfairly ignored by successive government interventions to cut the business rates bills of hospitality firms. Stephen Cassidy, senior vice president [...]
Francis Hotel Bath: Old-world glamour meets new-school cool Life&Style We braved the heatwave and the crowds to take a long weekend in Bath, a city that’s balances its ancient history with a tourist industry precision-engineered to meet the needs of the modern traveller – not least the newly renovated Francis Hotel Bath. As someone who lived in Scotland for more than a decade, it’s [...]
Coya Ibiza is bringing grown-up hedonism to Playa d’en Bossa July 20, 2026 You may know Coya for its London restaurants, but the group is exploring new shores in Ibiza with its first ever rooms. Anna Moloney checks in.
Avington Estate near Winchester is a bucolic paradise July 7, 2026 A short cab ride away from Winchester, itself only an hour from London, you can find the sleepy, bucolic village of Avington, nestled in the Itchen Valley. A place where reassuringly little happens, it’s a made up of winding country roads, quaint little churches and the stunning Avington Estate. For centuries this grand stately manor [...]
Square Mile Irish pub to be converted into youth hostel July 2, 2026 A Square Mile Irish pub is set to be converted into a youth hostel in the latest sign of the City’s gradual transformation from a work district to a visitor destination. Feeney’s pub, near Fenchuch Street station, as well as the offices above the pub, will be replaced by a “contemporary tourist hotel and hostel [...]
Andaz Lisbon: A long weekend in the City of Seven Hills June 30, 2026 Known for its butter-yellow trams and buttery natas, Lisbon has long been one of Europe’s most popular city breaks. Carys Sharkey checks into the Andaz to gain a fresh perspective on this ancient city Lisbon is known as the City of Seven Hills, but speak to locals and they’ll joke that it feels like a [...]
Whitbread food sales slump after revealing exit from restaurant arm June 18, 2026 Whitbread has seen food and drink sales slump after it revealed its divisive decision to sell its restaurants and pivot to a hotels-only business. The Premier Inn owner said food and drink sales fell by five per cent to £148m in the three months to the end of May, compared to a three per cent [...]
Can Newcastle go posh? Our honest review of city’s first five-star hotel May 29, 2026 In a far cry from the late noughties zeitgeist of Geordie Shore, Hotel Gotham offers a fresh brand of sexy that differentiates Newcastle from its MTV days. Once famous as the hangout for characters from that reality show, like Scotty T and Gary ‘the parsnip’ Beadle, Newcastle has quietly been building a higher-end repertoire of [...]
‘An impish sense of fun’: Claridge’s announces new era with fresh restaurant May 15, 2026 Claridge’s hotel in Mayfair has traded on its British history ever since Queen Victoria chose it as her preferred choice for a cocktail. The late Queen was another fan of the property, which first opened in 1812. But the hotel has experimented with that image lately, welcoming a kitchen takeover from New York restaurant Dante. [...]