Greedy Eighties
The 1980s were a hedonistic time which saw self indulgence and greed reach levels not seen since Henry VIII held court and proclaimed, pre-lunch, that one hog-roast was sufficient for him whilst a barbequed hamster would suffice for his 250 guests, that included the infamous Go-Lightly family from Wales and the Robusts (pron – Rowboosts) from France.
(Category: Blogs: Dion | Author: Dion Speak)
Content Matching 'travel' 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)
Content Matching 'travel' in Blogs: Patrick Gruhn
Global Economic Efficiency
We live in an ever accelerating, ever more challenging (business) world. The corporate society is captivated by technology as response times have to be decreased constantly. People become ever faster with their mobile phones, high speed internet, WiFi at the coffee shop and ultimately their “CrackBerries”.
(Category: Blogs: Patrick Gruhn | Author: Patrick Gruhn)
Content Matching 'travel' in Blogs: Spencer
Raising the Stakes
You don’t just want a house that will increase in value, you want to beat the market. Phil Spencer tells you how Your home is your most valuable asset and should be regarded as a business investment whether you intend to live there for five, 10 or 15 years.
(Category: Blogs: Spencer | Author: Phil Spencer)
Content Matching 'travel' in Blogs: Unwin
Flight Test: TBM-700
Scything through the summer sky at 5 miles a minute, I was profoundly impressed at not only how civilised the TBM is, but perhaps even more importantly, how easy it is to fly.
(Category: Blogs: Unwin | Author: David Unwin)
Personal Planes
Why own your own aircraft? Well, if you subscribe to the old adage that “time is money,” then Europe’s antiquated transportation system is probably costing you a small fortune! Let’s face it, surface transport in Europe is becoming ever more impractical. The roads are reaching gridlock while the rail network is suffering from years of under-investment; so will the solution be found in the sky?
(Category: Blogs: Unwin | Author: David Unwin)
Content Matching 'travel' in Features
Drive the Best
The Ferrari 599 is probably the best GT car currently in production - fact. It has the stunning 600 bhp engine from the fabulously expensive Enzo, mounted in a chassis so communicative that you know what it’s about to do before it’s done it. It has shift lights and electronic differential controls on the steering wheel that make you feel like Michael Schumacher.
(Category: Features | Author: Ben Samuelson)
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)
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)
Unlimited Potential
Right now it’s an interesting time up at the top of the market – whether you are talking about supercars, private jets, luxury properties, investments or anything else on the radar of the super rich. Everywhere you look people are shouting out about the explosion of wealth, and how there are more people with more money than ever before.
(Category: Features | Author: Sam Elshafey)
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)
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)
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)
Jenny Packham
Designer Jenny Packham has to be one of the UK’s most successful exports in the fashion industry. Internationally renowned for her fantastic collections of breathtaking dresses, Jenny’s designs have graced many red-carpet events, with a star fan base that includes Keira Knightly, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Beyonce and Helena Christensen.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Buying a Bugatti Veyron
It is no wonder HR Owen is such a successful dealership; not content with selling me two Lamborghinis and a Carrera GT in the last year and a half, more recently they decided I was a prime target for an even bigger fish. It was not long after I had taken delivery of the CGT when another phone call came through from them.
(Category: Features | Author: Arash Farboud)
The Luck of the Stylish
Irish fashion is on the boil right now thanks to champions of the cause, Enterprise Ireland, who are flying the Irish flag of fashion across the globe, working to promote an impressive number of innovative designers. Dublin-based Aideen Bodkin launched her label eight years ago after studying design at The National College of Art and Design, where she won several prestigious awards as a student designer.
(Category: Features | Author: Erica Compton)
Ecurie 25. Gallardo
Ok, I’ll admit it before any of you readers figure it out for yourselves. I am a snob. Not the sort of snob who prefers dukes to dustmen, but the sort of snob who feels that if you can’t afford to buy a particular car, then you’d better not drive that sort of a car. Which is a roundabout way of saying that I disapproved of those clubs which provide their members with supercars for the weekend.
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
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)
A Guide to Polo
The sport of polo is experiencing its greatest growth spurt since it ceased to be an Olympic sport after The Second World War. In its hey day, from the late Victorian era to the 1930’s, polo was revered as the “Sport of Kings”.
(Category: Features | Author: Johnny Lynn)
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)
Longchamp
Paris in 1948 was a city in post-war celebration. Soldiers crowded the city’s cafes smoking their pipes and it was Jean Cassegrain, a purveyor of smoking accessories, that recognised a gap in the market for a speciality product that would capture the celebration and luxury of the post-war era.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
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)
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)
Discovering Samoens
Departing by Eurostar one Friday evening in February, the first leg on our journey to the Alps would take us to Paris. Arriving at Waterloo only an hour and a half before our train was scheduled to leave, the check in was swift and we were able to sit and enjoy a drink together before setting off. A couple of other members of the party had chosen to fly, leaving the day before, whilst we were delighted to be spared the plague of queues most airports were suffering from at the time following the terrorist scares and security step-ups.
(Category: Features | Author: Dennis le Borg)
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)
A Descent to Luxury
What do you think constitutes an expensive chalet? Would it be £10,000 a week for 10 people, or even £20,000? Well, if you are looking for chalets with Descent, then these kinds of numbers are pretty run of the mill.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
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)
Liberty of London
One of our most famous and stylish stores in London has undergone a renaissance, marking this new era with the launch of their very own brand, a new bespoke tailoring service and the redesign of their breathtaking central atrium.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
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)
Excess Speed
Life insurance, along with theology and acid rain, is not a subject which normally occupies much of my brain. However, after accepting this particular assignment, I did give it some thought. Consider the following. The XSR48 can reach speeds over 100mph. This is about one third the velocity of the world speed record on water, which has stood since Ken Warby, in Spirit of Australia, achieved 317mph back in October 1978.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Aero GP: F1 Takes to the Skies
Imagine that you are standing on the roof terrace of a bar in the Mediterranean, Malta to be exact, looking out over the ancient harbour. Whilst holding an ice cold beer, you look out to sea and see a small dot on the horizon. The dot grows larger, you hear a low rumble coming from the same direction, it gets closer and soon its apparent it’s an aircraft.
(Category: Features | Author: Andy Rixon)
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)
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)
A Luxury Adventure with Holland & Holland.
On London’s Bruton Street, nestled amongst Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson, lies the extraordinary store of Holland & Holland. Nothing could be further from the values of its neighbour Stella, than the company who embraces the world of hunting and shooting. Indeed, on entering the store you will come face to face with the head of a zebra, no doubt a prize possession of Harris Holland who founded the business in 1835.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Bamford and Sons
The Old Bank in Sloane Square houses the flagship store of the rapidly growing luxury brand Bamford & Sons. Their ambition to make beautifully designed, practical clothes that give lasting pleasure has been fulfilled and, in the space of three years, the business has acquired three stores, including its first in Notting Hill in 2004 and a boutique in Wimbledon this year. This autumn saw a concession opened in Harrods and the brand has also launched in the United States, exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, NYC.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Life Support - Armoured Range Rovers
Whilst the Armoured Range Rover offers the pinnacle in protection on the road for those who require this kind of safety, I left the Brittany armouring facility understanding why it is chosen for so many other reasons.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Thoroughbred Racing
Imagine receiving a trophy from the Queen at Royal Ascot. Imagine watching your horse fly down the hill, cheered on by a huge crowd, at Epsom on Derby Day. Imagine picknicking in the summer sunshine during Glorious Goodwood. Imagine standing in the paddock at Longchamp, discussing your horse’s chances with Britain’s champion trainer.
(Category: Features | Author: Catherine Austen)
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)
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)
Phantom of the Opera
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars kindly invited Lusso to its HQ at Goodwood in Sussex to tour the factory and take out a Rolls-Royce Phantom for the afternoon. Hey, who were we to refuse?
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
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)
Wild Rover
Recently knocking the spectacular 'Birmingham International Railway Station' off the top slot ("Die retoorn to Naples, pleurse"... I think not), the entirely splendid 'Fun Run' is currently my all time favourite oxymoron. The very idea of running for pleasure rather than the simple expedient of winning a race strikes me as every bit as absurd as making a shoe called a 'trainer' in which nobody ever actually trains.
(Category: Features | Author: Anthony ffrench Constant)
Time Honoured Tradition
Historically, Savile Row has been the dominant tailoring centre of the Western world. It has produced for many, if not all, the world leaders, diplomats, industrialists and financiers. Savile Row came into being some hundred years ago and, at its height, comprised of hundreds of individual tailoring firms which, in turn, employed thousands of tailors.
(Category: Features | Author: Darren Beaman)
A Century of Writing History
Conway Stewart has been creating luxury writing instruments for one hundred years. Perfectly balanced and a delight to hold, a Conway Stewart pen will enhance any handwriting style, while offering a supremely satisfying and pleasurable writing experience
(Category: Features | Author: Glenn Jones)
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)
Park Life
It is very difficult to reserve judgment until you’ve have actually had first hand experience. Whether you’re referring to a car, restaurant, hi-fi or perhaps even a book, your opinion of said item will often be influenced by magazine reviews, friend’s recommendations and maybe even its appearance.
(Category: Features | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Pure Precious Platinum
Now platinum is one of those rare materials that not many of us know much about. I certainly do not know anything about it other than it looks like silver. I, however, got the opportunity to have a lesson in platinum with distinctive jewellery designer Jon Dibben at his Guildford Workshop.
(Category: Features | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Content Matching 'travel' 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 'travel' in Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles
Vanessa Threapleton-Horrocks
Blessed from birth with a macrocosmic view of the world, from her part South-American, part-English parentage, Vanessa has racked up more airmiles in visiting family and friends before reaching prep-school age, than Imelda Marcos has reheeling her evening shoes! Reheel?!
(Category: Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles | Author: LM Media)
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)
Oliver Walston
Oliver's day job is to look after his 2000 acre farm near Cambridge, in his role as a self styled ‘barley baron’. In his large amounts of time off he enjoys writing and broadcasting about controversial farming issues, often enraging his agricultural contemporaries in the process.
(Category: Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles | Author: Oliver Walston)
Content Matching 'travel' in News
Eclipse 500 faces FAA investigation
Eclipse Aviation are the world's leading very light jet manufacturer, providing jets which are both affordable and innovative. Their Eclipse 500 jet is an ideal jet for personal and business travel and at around $2 million, its bringing personal jet ownership into a new market.
(Category: News | Author: Andrew Rixon)
Singapore Airlines take Fourth A380
Singapore Airlines took delivery of its fourth A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, France, at 0938 hrs on 26 April (Toulouse time). After a delivery flight, the aircraft is expected to arrive in Singapore on Sunday 27 April around 0700 hrs. Thereafter, it will undergo some pre-entry into service work in Singapore.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Schwarz Etienne
The Roma is Schwarz Etienne’s new model that they will be introducing this year at BaselWorld. It introduces what is fast becoming one of the most fashionable, and surprisingly for a complication, useful, features of recent times.
(Category: News | Author: Lusso Magazine News Desk)
Kimi's new pit lane transport?
The Segway PT has long been the gadget of choice for the rich and famous. Such owners include Miami Heat basketball centre Shaquille O’Neal and, infamously, President George W. Bush.
(Category: News | Author: Graham Ballett Young)
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)
Elegant Resorts and Virgin Galactic
Fancy yourself as a space cadet? Well you could be travelling on a sub-orbital flight with Virgin Galactic as soon as 2009. The company aims to make it possible for almost anyone to travel into space on their privately built and owned spaceships and Elegant Resorts has been exclusively appointed as the only UK travel company to be able to book your Virgin Galactic flight.
(Category: News | Author: Daniel Sharp)
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)
Shanghai for the Discerning Traveller
Drop your guidebooks & see Shanghai like you live here. Interact with the city on your own terms.
Luxury Concierge China delivers personalised Shanghai experiences. We deliver the service, You deserve the luxury.
(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)
