Owning a piece of automotive history. The Carrera GT.
Ok so it has finally arrived. God knows how I paid for it. Ebay has really been a saviour for getting rid all my automotive memorabilia and special engines to pay for the car. It really better be worth it – and it is.
(Category: Blogs: CGT | Author: Arash Farboud)
Content Matching 'hotel' in Blogs: Doug Richard
The Value for Luxury Market
There is a myth about in the world that luxury items are price independent. If something is primarily sold for its premium qualities, goes the myth, you are supposed to be insensitive to the price.
(Category: Blogs: Doug Richard | Author: Doug Richard)
Italian Stallions
Like every reader of Lusso, I can tell the difference between a Pouilly Fuissé and a Pouilly Fumé without inhaling. I can distinguish between Gucci and Pucci with my eyes closed. I am, in other words, so profoundly sophisticated and so preternaturally cool that it sometimes gives me a headache.
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
Portuguese Strokes
Departing the UK on an early morning flight in January, it was just a couple of hours before the plane was descending on to the red-earthed landscape of the Algarve. Leaving a dreary, wet, dark England behind, green oases were now scattered across the sun stricken ground beneath, promising recreational treats for most of the airliner’s cabin.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Everlands
Having never been to New York City, I perched on the side of my extra wide EOS seat enjoying the sights out of the window as the plane descended towards J. F. Kennedy airport. We land and I’m shuttled through the terminal’s eerily deserted border control and within 30 minutes I’m halfway across the airport, taking a short drive to the GA Terminal.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
The Death of Luxury
The death of luxury has been overly heralded and grossly simplified. Some see the idea as provocative. Some see a certain karmic justice in the idea. And still others use a down turn in the economy as an indicator that the luxury world is superfluous and fluffy: that when in a financial pinch, the average luxury consumer will abandon his or her extravagant ways in favour of a solid rational purchasing habit.
(Category: Features | Author: Alex Ducksworth)
London Hen Nights
As the years pass my bridesmaid CV is unfortunately becoming more and more extensive, each year though the level of difficulty increases with an advancement in responsibility. I found myself this December a Chief bridesmaid to my cousin Zara and in the tricky position of organising a ‘Hen Party’ for some pretty trendy girls about town and so the challenge began of organizing a ‘Luxury Hen’.
(Category: Features | Author: Grace Vane Percy)
Southern Grace
There are two great things about South Africa. One is that it is in the southern hemisphere, and so it is one half of the perfect life – summer in England (OK, well maybe not this year), and winter 7000 miles further south. The second is that, unlike almost any other non-European travel hotspot, it is only one or two hours forward of GMT, so no jetlag. Get on the plane at night, go to sleep, and get off at the other end with no bizarre body clock malfunctions.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
In Search of Perfection
As the sun rises a cacophony of bells ring throughout the whole of Florence, it was time to check out of our hotel set deep within the centre of the city. This first stage of our journey would be undoubtedly the most challenging, as my F430 and the other two cars accompanying us (a Ferrari 599 and a 430 Spider) had to navigate through busy, central Florence to the nearest petrol station.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Serenity in the Seychelles
Meditating upon the madness that is flying today, it’s hard to recall the beautiful things in life when withstanding the relatively restricted comforts of a 12-hour flight. But all this dissipates into thin air once the airbus begins its decent down towards the Indian Ocean, and glancing wistfully into the aeroplane’s familiarly meagre oval window, one proceeds to stare across into the heavens mid-flight or to smile smugly in childish awe at the Lilliputian-sized toy towns that seem to reside so peacefully beneath the wings.
(Category: Features | Author: Vanessa Threapleton Horrocks)
Breakfast at Normas
While in the US recently, Lusso supremo Dan Sharp gave me a particularly tough assignment. “Our US agents have reported that Norma’s make the best breakfast in New York. Your mission Dave” he continued “is to find out if this is remarkable claim is true!” Armed with nothing but a keen appetite and a hungry photographer, I set off to find out for myself.
(Category: Features | Author: David Unwin)
Kersefontein
OK, so a lot of people visit Cape Town – and why not, it is a great city after all. But how many of those visitors venture outside of the city for more than a few hours to get a bit tipsy on the local wine? Not quite so many I would guess. It is a real shame, because one of Cape Town’s attractive features – its cosmopolitan European feel – is also one of its biggest weaknesses.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
Red Bull Air Race 2007
It’s not every day that mutliple aerobatics planes feature in the views from London’s Canary Wharf. The Red Bull Air Race - in its third year - has accomplished what many people thought impossible, and have bought their high octane event into our nation’s capital.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Lost in Luxury
Bermuda’s breathtaking setting has inspired writers for centuries, from William Shakespeare, who used the island as an inspiration for “The Tempest”, to Mark Twain who once wrote, “You go to heaven if you want, I’ll stay here in Bermuda”. Breathtaking pink-sand beaches line the coastline, iridescent turquoise waters surround the island and lush tropical vegetation fills the landscape.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Taking the Hummer H3 to the Goodwood Revival 2007
Goodwood Revival is a must see event on any petrolheads calendar. The first weekend of September sees thousands of classic vehicles descend on the Earl of March’s land in the south of England.
(Category: Features | Author: Andrew Rixon)
Indian Ocean Hideaway
The sun has fully set, leaving a cool breeze, warm air and crisp night. I left an air conditioned hotel room and wander past the flame-lit swimming pools and numerous restaurants wafting exotic flavours and live jazz into the warm evening air, a welcome environment to be in after a stuffy 12-hour Air Mauritius flight from London Heathrow.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Escaping New York City
As a boy, the impending departure for a holiday abroad brought great excitement and sleepless nights. The adventure wasn’t just about the destination and the promise of waterslides, swimming pools and meals with grown ups, I was excited about the travel aspect too. The drama of the airport, shopping in duty free and the chance to inspect the plane’s cockpit.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory Peake)
Interview: Sir Rocco Forte
LUSSO: "What defines a ‘Rocco Forte Hotel’?" SIR ROCCO: A number of things, but to start with a Rocco Forte hotel is never too big, this creates an intimate atmosphere so you can treat each guest as an individual.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Desert Pentominum
Sheikh Rashid’s audacious vision for Dubai surviving past the oil boom has seen the tiny city-state undergo a miraculous transformation in the past forty years. Propagated by an economic shift towards tourism, shipping, mass communications and finance, Dubai has become an oasis of political and religious moderation, blooming in the somewhat scary Middle East.
(Category: Features | Author: Matt Watkinson)
Dubai in a Flash
As you will have either seen for yourself or heard about, Dubai is largely one big building site. There’s no point dwelling on this when you’re there, and once you accept the fact, it becomes rather interesting.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Eos
The first time I flew to the United States, nearly sixty years ago, the trip took over twenty four hours. Our plane, a Lockheed Constellation of American Overseas Airlines, took off from a small row of sheds called Heathrow.
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
Hebridean Chic
Talk of ‘going green’ and reducing the carbon foot print is doing our home grown tourism the world of good. Suddenly, there is nothing more fashionable than popping down to Cornwall for a surf or borrowing a country pile from the Big House Company and filling it with a bunch of friends for the weekend.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Vanilla Spice
We had been invited to visit by the entrepreneur Peter de Savary – the man with a big history in developing and responsible for over 25 international resorts and private clubs including the St James Clubs worldwide, Cherokee Plantation in Carolina, Bovey Castle on Dartmoor, the Aboco Club in the Bahamas and, venue of Madonna’s wedding, the Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, Scotland.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Italy's Finest
Of all the countries in the world, Italy is perhaps the most magical. From the magnificent mountains and lakes of the north, through enchanted walled villages and splendid cities, to the sun-baked beaches and islands of the south, it really is the perfect European holiday destination.
(Category: Features | Author: Lusso Magazine)
A Noble Marque?
My story begins with a tale of a small request. You see, normally we would have a test vehicle delivered to us. However, after finding out it was an option, I asked Marque II not to deliver the Noble M12 I ordered for this weekend, because I wanted the opportunity to meet Alex Shepherd, Marque II’s founder.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Assoufid
In the ‘40s and ‘50s, Marrakech hit the headlines as Winston Churchill’s favourite hideaway. Sheltered from the sun by a parasol, the former prime minister could often be found hidden amongst the rose gardens of the Mamounia, indulging in his passion for painting. In the ‘60s and ‘70s the world watched as the city became the hedonistic playground for the artistic icons of the age, including The Stones, Warhol, Yves St Laurent and the Beatles.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Richard Raymond - Cannes Film Festival
Someone once told me that being a movie star was like walking on water – you can either do it, or you can’t. Taking this into context, funding the actual movie – from a young film producer’s point of view (mine) – is, most definitely, a hell of a lot harder! So thus brings me to the Cannes Film Festival, sixty years young with all the fantastically beautiful and somewhat deceiving glitz and sparkling red carpet glamour.
(Category: Features | Author: Richard Raymond)
Marrakech Express
Typical, I thought, as the pilot came on the tannoy and informed us that “we’ve hit a thunder storm six miles from Marrakech” I had been looking forward to a February week in a converted Palace in the warm sun of the North African continent.
(Category: Features | Author: Charles Bagshaw)
From Greenville to Greenville
The junction signs here are split up into three sections; lodgings, gas and fuel... there’s a Waffle House every 3 exits and there are probably more “hotels” along this stretch of freeway than there are in all of central London. We can only be the ‘deep south’ - America’s southern states.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
The quintessential English hotel
As I approached the large Georgian House, slowly rolling up the private drive, I could sense the grandeur. Set in seven acres of immaculate formal gardens, with several wings of accommodation, my residence for the weekend had a distinct imperial feel to it. Booked in to the Jane Eyre penthouse suite, with butler service to suit, I looked forward to a retreat at this quintessentially English destination.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Stoke Park Club
Sitting beside yet another London suburb, the tiny community of Stoke Poges offers a bizarrely luxurious and prestigious setting for Hollywood’s favourite country-club. After escaping the chaos of London, followed by a short stint on the motorway, you are greeted with B roads and average looking surroundings. Follow the brown signs for a small period of time and you suddenly find yourself amongst wide, green open spaces, large gates and long drives.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Modern Ancient Greece
Thessaloniki sounds rather like a lesser known Greek Island but it’s actually Greece’s second City, and one of Europe’s oldest. With a population of over one million it’s certainly a City full of surprises.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Saint-Hill Couture - A Labour of Love
It may well come as a surprise in a market saturated with luxury ready-to-wear that the art of couture is thriving in the heart of Belgravia. Just a stone’s throw from Harvey Nichols lies Kinnerton Street, an elite enclave for royalty, writers and artists and home to the breathtaking work of Saint-Hill Couture.
(Category: Features | Author: Emily Jukes)
Designs for All Occasions
Interior designer Esther Bond is renowned for her bold use of colour, imaginative lighting and accent on luxurious textured patterns. Leading a 25 strong team from the Camberley head quarters of her company, ‘Designs For All Occasions’, Esther has been at the forefront of interior design for more than fifteen years.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
V International
Fractional ownership is a simple concept to understand but not so easy to appreciate. That is, of course, unless you have already been through the process of buying a brand new super-car, using it 4 or 5 times a month and then selling it 10 months later, only to take a colossal kick in the wallet, thanks to insurance, depreciation and maintenance.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Donnington Valley Hotel & Spa
The newly refurbished Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa has to be one of the easiest destinations to reach by car. Situated just a few minutes south from junction 13 of the M4, the four star hotel is an ideal retreat from the bustling city of London.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
The Balmoral Hotel
When you enter the hotel lift and realise that you’re standing next to one of the country’s wealthiest individuals you know that you must be somewhere special.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
A Swiss Adventure
The destination was the Grand Hotel Bellevue in the centre of Gstaad to experience the ‘out-of-season’ activities and then relax in the hotel’s spa, reputed to be one of the best in the country.
The adventure began at The Rockwell – a funky boutique hotel on London’s Cromwell Road.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Windermere's Lakeside Retreat
Sweeping into the driveway late on a Friday night, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by doormen dressed in black tie. Not something all too familiar in the north of England. Our bags and car were taken around to the rear of the hotel to our lodge, whilst we were led through the main entrance of the hotel.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
The G Hotel
For months I’d heard whispers about a fabulous new hotel in Galway so I became determined to find out more. The g Hotel has been recognised by Conde Nast Traveller’s Hot List 2006 as one of the best new hotels in the world so it was clearly something special.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
The Haves and the Have-Yachts
The alarm clock explodes. It is 5am. I pull back the curtains to find a grey morning with a thin drizzle. Writing for Lusso is rough work – but someone’s got to do it. Shave, shower and a cup of AA Chagga coffee from H.R. Higgins (Coffee Man).
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
Gastro Lombardia
The words ‘fly-drive’ are seldom associated with luxury and comfort. Instead they conjure up images of thrill seeking students braving the desert in a beaten-up Ford Taurus or a family of five cramped into a minivan smelling of nappies and baby wipes.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Bjorn Slippy
“You’ll be picked up from the airport by a sleigh pulled by huskies”. Some things really stand out when you read a travel itinerary and this was certainly one of them.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Glorious Goodwood
Another year, another trip to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. I’ve been going for years now and, as each Festival passes, I slowly hone my skills and plans in order to reach the point (which I believe is now upon me) where I can have the perfect Festival experience. I think it’s only fair that I share it.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Lunch in Geneva, Cocktails in Cannes
Woken by the alarm at 5.45. Rub eyes and wonder where I am. Pitch dark outside. Even the birds are still asleep. Stagger to bathroom and, whilst still en route, remember that I’m flying to Geneva today. God how I hate flying.
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
Gentleman's Relish
They say that, at the point of drowning, a person’s entire life flashes before their eyes. Which singularly fails to explain why, at the very moment I resign myself utterly to the inevitability of death by motoring accident, the one overriding image Blu-Tac’d to the petrified pinboard of my mind is that of Bob Monkhouse at full smirk.
(Category: Features | Author: Anthony ffrench Constant)
The Bogus Fungi Man
If you go down to the woods today, you’d better go with a guide. Especially if today’s the day you decide to start picking, cooking and eating your own mushrooms. Because although only a dozen or so of the 4000 odd varieties of mushroom and toadstool littering Britain’s autumnal forest floors are properly poisonous, that malevolent fistful of fungi have, to a man, spitefully elected to perfectly mimic only the very tastiest specimens on offer.
(Category: Features | Author: Anthony ffrench Constant)
The Farmer, The Engraver and The Scottish Gun Maker
For a country bumpkin, who rarely crosses the parish boundaries let alone the county borders, an invitation to go to Scotland for a couple of days came as a bit of a surprise.
However the lure of visiting David McKay Brown, the famed Scottish gun maker, for a ‘shooting nut’ like me, was too much to miss.
(Category: Features | Author: Dick Arbon)
Content Matching 'hotel' in Lusso Editions
Edition 7: January - March 2007
After beginning with the classic and all important luxury news, this edition of Lusso magazine launches straight into the product reviews and gift ideas section. With a variety of thought out gift ideas for everyone in the family, ranging from gadgets and gizmos for a few hundred pounds to a £5,000 bottle of Cognac and a £30,000 advent calendar.
(Category: Lusso Editions | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Content Matching 'hotel' in Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles
Al Fox
With the term “luxury” being used to describe more and more travel experiences these days, Al feels his mission is to separate the wheat from the chaff and discover which destinations actually live up to their promise. Highlights so far include paragliding over Swiss mountains, dining on a millionaire’s super yacht in the West Indies, and sleeping in minus six degrees in Sweden’s Ice Hotel.
(Category: Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles | Author: Al Fox)
Content Matching 'hotel' in News
From Car Boot to Harvey Nichols
To make a change from the usual luxury drinks such as champagne and high end Russian vodka, we've sampled a lager, which is imported from Peru and gaining huge popularity on the UK scene. Is this another drink from a multinational aiming to cash in on the summer drinking season? Not at all, this one is imported by two friends who enjoyed it on a trip to Peru and went one better than bringing a couple of bottles home with them.
(Category: News | Author: Andrew Rixon)
Launch of Portugal’s ‘Palacio da Quinta’ brings six star living to Europe
April 2008 sees the launch of Europe’s first six star hotel and residential resort – ‘Palacio da Quinta’, situated in the Algarve, Portugal’s most beautiful coastal region. The truly palatial development will comprise 80 luxurious apartments and penthouses set within 17 acres of lush sub-tropical gardens.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
The South Africa Villa Book
For those feeling deprived of a summer this year, The Villa Book’s new collection of luxury villas in and around Cape Town offers an opportunity for a winter sun escape.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Jazz Brunch every Sunday at the Mandeville Hotel
Sundays should be a day of rest and relaxation so what better way to unwind than with a jazz infused brunch at the deVille Restaurant. The Mandeville Hotel is thrilled to present a series of class jazz acts to perform at brunches throughout the summer. Catch up with friends or treat loved ones to a lazy Sunday, starting the day at a leisurely pace with a delicious brunch menu that includes dishes such as Organic smoked salmon, Canadian pancakes with sweet cured bacon or the more traditional eggs Benedict, washed down with unlimited lashings of champagne!
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
New Boutique Hotel opens in Goa
Vivenda dos Palhacos has recently opened as one of South Goa’s first boutique hotels situated in Majorda, a 45 minute drive from the state capital Panjim. Prices start from $80 a night for a double room ($40 during Monsoon season).
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
The new five-star Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa in Dubai
The new five-star Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa in Dubai combines traditional Arabian luxury with contemporary chic, offering the ultimate Dubai experience whether you’re visiting for business or pleasure. Situated on the world famous Jumeirah Beach and adjacent to Dubai’s new marina, the resort’s iconic twin towers house 446 guest rooms with stunning views over either the sea and Palm Island Project or tropical landscaped gardens.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Paddling through Clear Rivers
Leading specialist tour operator Hidden Croatia offers “Clear Rivers” an amazing adventure trip taking you through some of the most beautiful rivers in Croatia and the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Giving an exceptional experience of the country, Hidden Croatia’s local guides will steer you away from civilisation giving a true insight into the unspoilt landscapes and genuine beauty of the area.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Mixing it up at deVigne - all new cocktails by Claudio Grisorio
The deVigne Bar at the Mandeville Hotel has a new Bar director, Claudio Grisorio - a great character who has introduced several new cocktails and concepts to the menu. The taster tray is a great choice for a night out - this is a selection of five different cocktails served in double shot glasses, ideal to share amongst friends. Claudio has also introduced Magellan's gin to the bar, which with its distinctive blue hue, creates the smoothest martini in town!
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Leading Green go Carbon Neutral
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. launched The Leading Green Initiative last week. The first program under the initiative is the “The Carbon-Neutral Experience”, where LHW will make the financial donation to offset any guest’s energy consumption when booking through www.LHWGreen.com or by mentioning “Leading Green” to our voice reservation centers.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
New Fractional Ownership Hotel and Restaurant in South Beach
Designer Todd Oldham and celebrity Chef Tony Mantuano, from the world famous Spiaggia Restaurant, Chicago, are teaming up with developer and restaurateur Larry Levy to open The Fairfax, a luxury boutique and proposed fractional ownership resort in South Beach, Miami.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Dorchester Group Rebrands
On the 10th November 2006 the Dorchester Group celebrated 10 years since its establishment. To mark this occasion the group who own The Dorchester in London, Le Meurice and Plaza Athénée in Paris, The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan are re-branding as The Dorchester Collection.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine)
