If you've not explored The Ned in the heart of the City then you must. On walking in, the scale of the place is guaranteed to shock you into a silent state of awe. The former bank has undergone the ultimate makeover in the hands of Soho House stalwart Nick Jones, in collaboration with the supremely slick New York-based hotel group, Sydell. It is now a 252-room hotel, part members club and food emporium, boasting an impressive nine restaurants. On a Wednesday night - with a friend from New York - I checked into Kaia, an Asian-inspired eatery on The Ned’s ground floor. I was glad we had boo...
Read more →Sadie Whitelocks 9
I felt pretty rock 'n roll carrying Cava up to my room at the Sir Adam hotel in Amsterdam. It had just hit midday, I'd checked in and found a bottle of bubbly at reception, so I poured myself a glass of vino and headed off to explore. My headed started to spin a little as I got in the lift to my room on the 4th floor. There was a giant disco ball and the floor was flashing in different colours. Some funky music was playing too. The doors opened and it was very dark. I felt like I'd entered a secret bunker as I tried to crack the code for the key card-activated door with my Cava wobbling aw...
Read more →There are Ivys popping up left, right and centre, it’s hard to keep up. One of the latest ones to land is at Tower Bridge. I love the brand and worry that it’s being watered down but after visiting its new outcrop, I’m pleased to report that it’s still keeping true to its spirit - spot on martinis and well done classic cuisine - it’s just bigger and busier. No longer just confined to the West End theatre crowd but welcoming in the masses. The day we hit the impressively large Tower Bride location, three weeks after its opening, it was busy with a queue outside the door. Youngsters from the ...
Read more →It was a Thursday afternoon and I was casually skinning a deer in the depths of Cornwall with a cool breeze blowing and birds crowing from the trees. I'd been invited to get a taste of 'Filson Life' by the Alaskan outfitter, which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, but has two stores in London. Its much-anticipated UK online site has also just launched. The brand's goods are tough and heard-wearing, with thick cotton shirts designed for a spot of lumber jacking and long aprons lovingly waxed to repel any spot of blood from a deer. But what I love is that the products are also stylistic...
Read more →If you're a bit of a boozehound, which admittedly I am, The Distillery on Portobello Road, Notting Hill is your hotel dream come true. You can drink, eat, drink some more, and sleep on the same spot. The quirky multi-level venue is the world's first-ever hotel on the site of an alcohol distillery, the libation in question being gin. Albeit, it is very small - there are only three rooms - and the night we visited, two couples had travelled from Manchester and Lincoln to check the place out. My friend Mary Lou and I checked into the hotel's corner room, which boasts beautiful views of the qu...
Read more →Victoria in London features a hotchpotch of bizarre hotels. I walk past one that tells me it has 'hot and cold water' - which one would hope - and another advertises the fact that there is central heating. But peel away the spread of bizarreness and you'll unearth and absolute gem of a place, the Artist Residence. I checked into the boutique homestay on a Monday night before catching an early flight from Gatwick the next morning. The sleekly designed residence is conveniently positioned just a hop away from Victoria station, where the fast train to Gatwick runs every ten minutes or so. It ...
Read more →If you're a fan of gin then Gintonica in Notting Hill is a MUST. The restaurant is part of a unique distillery-hotel complex, which is brimming with character and west London low-key flair. Expect a chilled atmosphere, tasty tapas and top notch drinks. We hit the upstairs eatery on a Sunday evening. The sun was streaming into the double height ceilinged room and we took a table next to one of the windows overlooking the quaint bricks of Portobello market below. The music was good, there was a nice buzz and the open-air kitchen was a visual delight, as was the corner bar with libations con...
Read more →Tucked on a quiet street just by Barbican tube station, London's newest pop up restaurant is definitely a gem worth getting your fork stuck into. Only seating 16, the Little Quiet is intimate and cosy, with good food and good vibes at its heart. It's masterminded by the Disappearing Dining Club, a culinary group I've been following for years for their innovative approach to dining out. Stepping in from the cobbled back street you're instantly transported to a world of candlelight and pleasant scents topped with a dash of bon vivant. The quaint venue, previously an unused office space, invit...
Read more →It was 7pm and we were pulling up to a palace. This definitely beat the local London boozer on a Thursday night. After taking a speedy train from Paddington to Oxford - still enough time for an enjoyable G&T en route - we were taxiing it up to the entrance of Blenheim Palace. Built between 1705 and 1722, this place has played host to an array of fine gentry and it is where Sir Winston Churchill was born. Now the stately home - the Duke of Marlborough's primary residence - is open to the public with a mix of events on throughout the year, from musical extravaganzas to open air cinema ses...
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