Oxford’s ongoing insomnia has been alleviated by the Old Bank Hotel on The High – no, not a narcotic induced undergraduate state but what they’ve taken to calling Oxford’s High Street. Owned by Jeremy Mogford, the entrepreneur behind Browns Restaurants, the Old Bank Hotel is housed in a modest Georgian stone building, which used to…
The Shapiros are in their 70’s and having their annual medical check up. When Mrs Shapiro goes in to speak to the doctor, he leans back in his chair and says, ‘You’re fine. Mr. Shapiro’s fine, but he did tell me of one problem when you’re making love. he says the first time is all…
Situated within Battersea’s award-winning Falcon Wharf Development, the 65-room, three storey, five-star Rafayel on the Left Bank is the low emission luxury boutique on the banks of the Thames. Unique to the capital, every aspect of the Rafayel carefully marries the finest in high-end hotel living with the very latest technology in an environment designed…
If you’re a connoisseur of wine – or just simply a wino – chances are you’ve bored someone silly at a party with this factoid. The Tempranillo grape is a derivative of the Spanish word ‘temprano’ – meaning ‘early’. It’s a cheeky young thing, an early riser – coming to fruition a few weeks before the…
There is a strong sense of deja vu when visiting LA. It begins during the long, slow approach into LAX, with a glimpse of the Hollywood sign standing bleached-teeth white against the sun browned hills and continues with the cracked, crumbling concrete of the freeways. That the City of Angeles elicits such a response, even…
They say that the US and the UK are divided by a common language. If that’s the case, then Abu Dhabi and Dubai are divided by a common love of building. The old joke it’ll be lovely when its finished applies equally well to these neighbouring states, with cranes a common sight in both. The…
Adults only. If those two words ring like music to your ears, then pack your bags and get yourself to The House. Situated on Barbados’s chic west coast, this boutique hotel has 34 suites and a strong focus on catering to the needs of adults only. Now, just to be clear, ‘adults only’ doesn’t mean…
As the TGV pulled up to Reims, Champagne, it didn’t look good. The damp and dreary weather reflected my mood, as for me a 5am alarm usually signifies the end of a long bar shift and the promise of a post-work cold one, as opposed to a day trip to France. Reims, located eighty miles…
The Sir Bani Yas Island Resort isn’t the most extravagant spot in Abu Dhabi – and it’s better for it. In a territory where the first paved road was laid in 1960, but which now commissions and completes new acts of architectural bravura quicker than other countries draw up plans for a bathroom extension, the…
Hotel is a dream, not surprisingly, as it’s one of the Dorchester group, not that Roger has noticed though. He’s lain on the bed watching the 24hr news channel waiting for some update on a tropical storm, hasn’t moved all morning. I ask him what’s so important about a storm, which of course annoys him,…