Vantage magazine January 2015

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contents

Off to a good start

38 literacy for life

11 CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Iconic hotels past and present

16 THE LION'S SHARE

Style

The rise of the peer-to-peer luxury economy

Collection

16

26 bright young things

The rising female stars who are changing the face of the industry

30 star struck

Look up for sparkling inspiration

Scene 34 January diary Get this month's culture fix

63 WishlisT

The Aether Cone hits a high note

64 INTERIORS INSPIRATION Dare to flare with bold accents

41 WISHLIST

66 lady luxe

Buccellati's muses and an exclusive collection from Noudar Jewels

Interiors

Andrew Gallimore by Rankin

42 STYLE UPDATE

24 JEWELLERY news

Find out more about Room to Read, an inspiring charity that believes world change starts with educated children

Hunter's new Regent Street home

44 TUNNEL VISION

Take a tentative step into spring by teaming sheer separates with boxy jackets, boyish shorts and every day wardrobe classics

Health & Family 71 Wishlist Shoes from Ferragamo MINI

76 the cure for a

50 BLOG ON

Meet the lifestyle gurus captivating

a discerning audience online

broken heart We join renowned personal trainer Matt Roberts for a two- day fitness retreat at Lime Wood

Food & Drink

60 village people

Hotel trends and interior design SAS with Tara Bernerd

We test drive the Ham Yard Hotel’s Soholistic spa experience

81 wishlist

Chalet chic blows the roof

84 there's no taste

44

92

like home Celebrity chef James Martin's breakfast staples and live TV blunders: plus two recipes

Travel 89 WISHLIST The Norman Tel Aviv has arrived

90 travel in style

66

Tis' the season for new openings, from Paris to Miami

92 arabian nights

84

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Forget New Year’s resolutions, head to Marrakech and start 2015 with a wellbeing trip to inspire

96 where time stands still Discover an off-the-track treasure in Switzerland’s Ascona

98 SUGAR AND SPICE

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Adjust your body clock to St Lucian time at Sugar Beach

From the editor

I

t was the American author and journalist Joan Didion who observed that “great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service.” And while best overseas spa and design awards are all well and good for the elite holidaymaker, it’s that added je ne sais quoi that will cement a hotel’s place in history. Whatever your background, the right hotel will provide the backdrop for those with the money, connections, and desire to be seen, to slip into society through an opportune crevice. Ushering in our biannual travel issue, I explore the establishments that have made history, and the new guard fighting to take top place (p. 11).

At the other end of the spectrum, many high-net-worth individuals are choosing to see New York from the floor-to-ceiling windows of a swanky SoHo loft, or have the sprawl of a classical Parisian townhouse for the weekend, instead of checking into the swankiest chain in town. As peer-to-peer businesses continue to present themselves as a practical lifestyle solution for the corporate audience, Gabrielle Lane investigates the booming trend (p. 16).

And we take you to some of our favourite spots for a New Year jaunt, from an intense workout weekend with Matt Roberts at Lime Wood (p. 76), to a blissful spa in Morocco (p. 92), with a dreamy Caribbean beach thrown in for good measure (p. 98).

Elsewhere, one of our favourite plain-talking chefs, James Martin, poo-poos January diets and detoxes in favour of his early-morning staple – a Twix and Red Bull – while sharing a couple of not too indulgent recipes from his new book Home Comforts (p. 84). And interior design guru Tara Bernerd shows us a thing or two about sprucing up lobbies and revamping bars with the help of her stylish SAS team (P. 66).

While for me 2014 will be a year to look back on with a smile, nobody knows what 2015 will bring – but it always helps to have a holiday booked when the relief of spring feels a lifetime away. As they say, the world is a book and those who do not Kari Colmans travel read only one page.

Editor Follow us on Twitter @VantageNW

Travel in style, from p. 89 Photography by Rachell Smith

Runwild Media Group Publishers of: Canary Wharf, The City Magazine The Kensington & Chelsea Magazine The Mayfair Magazine

j a n u a ry 2 0 1 5 i s s u e 5 4

Editor Kari Colmans

Editorial Director Kate Harrison

Deputy Editor Gabrielle Lane Collection Editor Annabel Harrison

Production Alex Powell Hugo Wheatley Oscar Viney Amy Roberts

Contributing Editor Richard Brown

General Manager Fiona Fenwick

Sub Editor Jasmine Phillips

Executive Director Sophie Roberts

Feature Writers Olivia Sharpe, Amy Green

Client Relationship Director Felicity Morgan-Harvey

Senior Designer Daniel Poole

Managing Director Eren Ellwood

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CHANGING OF THE

GUARD From H么tel du Cap-Eden-Roc to Jumby Bay, Kari Colmans explores the establishments that made history, and the new hotels fighting to take top place

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Previous page, clockwise from top left: Mick Jagger at Byblos © Claude Dronsart; Chiltern Firehouse © Nicholas Kay; Brigitte Bardot at Byblos © Claude Dronsart; Luxury bathroom at The Mark; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc swimming pool in 1920; Reethi Rah suite in the Maldives; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc swimming pool in 1920; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc coast

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ew words are as overused as the term ‘icon’.

It has, like, literally, lost all contextual consequence. From product-peddling stylists waving around the latest It bag, to stalwarts of the silver screen, it has come to signify anything and everything immediately tangible and emblematic of a given region, era or climate. A quick search of the OED gives two rather telling definitions: firstly, a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration, and secondly, a devotional painting of Christ or another holy figure.

And while a piece on hotels that have defined their eras has little to do with the Holy Trinity (unless you count that one globally-chronicled inn as perhaps the most famous lodging that ever was), the word devotion seems to capture what we really mean by the term.

“The history of hotels is intimately connected to that of civilisations,” wrote international hotel consultant Jacques Levy-Bonvin for Hospitality Net in 2003 (hospitalitynet.org). “Or rather, it is a part of that history. Facilities offering guests hospitality have been in evidence since early biblical times. The Greeks developed thermal baths in villages designed for rest and recuperation. Later, the Romans built mansions to provide accommodation for travellers on government business. The Romans were the first to develop thermal baths in England, Switzerland and the Middle East.”

A few hundred years later and the industrial revolution facilitated the construction of hotels throughout mainland Europe, England and North America: first came those in the main trading cities such as London and New York, but from around 1800, holiday resorts began to flourish along the French and Italian rivieras. “In Monte Carlo, l'Hôtel Hermitage opened its doors in 1896, offering its guests the refined and luxurious atmosphere enjoyed by the rich at the close of the 19th century. Shortly

afterwards, the Victoria Hotel in Kansas City offered bathrooms with every room. The Netherland Hotel in New York city then became the first to provide all its guests with their own telephone,” wrote Levy-Bonvin.

The first official school for refined hoteliers was founded in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1890.

Fast-forward through the prosperity boom of the 19th century and hotels soon became a playground for the rich and famous to let it all hang loose alongside other like-minded, and like-walleted, individuals. Indeed, when you think of a particular glamorous decade – from the playboys of the 1970s to the loadsamoneys of the 1980s – the backdrop will usually feature a cocktail in hand, wide sunglasses on face, and an infinity pool supporting a floating mystery blonde. In the true sense of the word, hotels are one of the very few institutions that have become era-defining icons in their own right.

When you think of old-school French glamour, it’s impossible not to be instantly transported to a beautiful palace situated just between Nice and Cannes, which goes by the name of Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Originally built as a private mansion named Villa Soleil in 1869, it opened as a hotel in 1870 before being bought by Italian hotelier Antoine Sella. Sella made history when he launched the Grand Hôtel du

f e at u r e This page from left: Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc grounds; Marlene Dietrich at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in 1938; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc swimming pool; The Duchess of Windsor arriving at Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in 1936; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc pool attendent; Restaurant at Byblos; Celebrities at Byblos; Marlene Dietrich at Hôtel du CapEden-Roc in 1938; Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc at sunset

Cap in 1889 and it has rarely left the limelight since.

While at first Eden-Roc’s tearoom offered a refuge for artists and writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway (immortalised by the former as the Hôtel des Etrangers in Tender Is the Night) and then to various European aristocrats, today it attracts a glittering array of A-list names who arrive in their droves to mark the annual Cannes Film Festival and look out over the Riviera on Eden-Roc’s 22-acre paparazzi-proof peninsula. The only hiatus to its status as a style centre was becoming a Red Cross hospital during World War One. According to records, nurses

These days you can even pay your final bill with a credit card – at one time they only accepted cash.

From Marlene Dietrich to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill to Charles De Gaulle and Elizabeth Taylor to Richard Burton, many a famous name has commemorated a honeymoon, wedding or birthday here, while Karl Lagerled’s short film The Tale of a Fairy used the landmark as its backdrop. The 100th anniversary of the Eden-Roc Pavilion was celebrated last summer; built in 1914 just 400 yards from the main hotel, it was originally the tearoom of the Grand Hôtel du Cap, frequented by royalty who lived in Cap d’Antibes. The centenary revelries began with an all-singing, all-dancing gala dinner in May – the kind Jay Gatsby may have thrown, complete with fireworks from a barge in the bay – and a €700-a place five-course menu with all the truffle,

Despite hundreds of openings over the last century, Hôtel du CapEden-Roc has maintained its title as leader of the old guard enjoyed cooling off in the sea between shifts, prompting the hotel’s then general manager to install a heated saltwater infinity pool set deep in the natural rock.

Although the hotel lacks an idyllic Mediterranean sandy beach, like many of its nearby competitors, an over-water trapeze now launches sun worshippers straight into the sea. Following a four-year, £50m restoration, completed in April 2011, architect Luc Svetchine didn’t stray far from Fitzgerald’s scenic descriptions of old, with rooms retaining their Louis XV and XVI decor. Modern additions have merely added to the luxe-factor: wiring, plumbing and soundproofing have lifted the property, mod con-wise, into 2014, while the Eden-Roc Grill now serves tapas and sushi on its ocean liner deck-like terrace.

lobster and vintage wine trimmings. It ended with a bang on 5 September, boasting a menu prepared by a variety of the Oetker Collection’s famous chefs from Le Bristol Paris and Le Château Saint-Martin. Despite hundreds, if not thousands of openings over the last century, Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc has managed to maintain its pretty much unrivalled title as leader of the old guard, and one of the best hotels in the world.

Another French Riviera institution is Byblos.

With an impending 50th birthday in May 2017, the hotel was first imagined in 1960 in Byblos, north of Beirut. Picture two men conversing on the terrace of a restaurant: one of them, Jean-Prosper Gay-Para, confesses to a crush on Brigitte Bardot and his desire to build an opulent Persian-inspired palace “worthy

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From left: Claridge’s lobby; David Downton in Calridge’s bar; Diane von Furstenberg at Claridge’s; Reethi Rath pool beach; Reethi Rath restaurant; French Dining Room at Cliveden; Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss © Walterlan Papetti; Ian Schrager © Chad Batka; Lobby at The Mark

of One Thousand and One Nights”. Around 700 members of the glitterati attended its opening on 29 May 1967. “Brigitte Bardot wore a pink and white Pucci headscarf, as was the height of fashion at the time, and was rarely seen without a bloody mary,” one bystander remembers (the original guestbook, from 1967-1987, is filled with observational tit-bits to delight even the most jaded of gossip columnists).

The year 1971 saw Mick Jagger and Bianca PérezMora Macías married in St Tropez, followed by a honeymoon in one of the Byblos suites, which elevated the establishment to the world stage. Digging through the archives and the hotel has even kept an old answering machine message from Bruce Willis. And while searchers of impeccably designed super spas and the like may not find Byblos ticks every box, there’s something about its faded, old-school charm that keeps drawing punters back, year after year.

One sure marker of knowing you fit the hotels-ofall-time bill is having a book published about, and for,

This year, Condé Nast Traveller’s Readers’ Travel Awards still rated Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc as the best place to stay in Europe, Turkey and Russia, despite the number of new openers on the scene, while Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, another old favourite since its inception in 1928, was voted best hotel in the world for service. From Paris’s L'Hôtel Le Bristol and The Ritz, to London’s Claridge’s, Buckinghamshire’s Cliveden, New York’s Plaza, Venice’s Cipriani, Barbados’s Sandy Lane and Marrakech’s La Mamounia, these are the institutions continuing to attract the rich and famous as much for the secrets they hold, and the glamour they project,

Across the pond, The Mark, The Mercer and the Edition have garnered a following across the fashion and music industries your clientele. Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc has not one but two tomes to its name, courtesy of Assouline, while the same publisher has run an entire series of Hotel Stories compendiums, laying bare those “what happens in <insert relevant destination here> stays there” tales.

They’re published by continent and class, with the North American edition making particularly good reading. West Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, first set up in 1927, was acquired and restored by hotelier André Balazs in 1990 – an institution in his own right – and has since seen everybody who’s anybody pass through its doors, as well as providing the backdrop to a number of blockbusters and sparkling, if not sometimes sordid, soirées. As Balazs says: “All good hotels tend to lead people to do things they wouldn't necessarily do at home.”

as for the actual facilities on offer. But as the chintzy upholstery begins to fade on the old European and North American establishments, a new flock of elite hotels is being bred in much the same manner as this time last century.

Across the pond, residences such as The Mark, The Mercer and the Edition have garnered a following across the fashion and music industries. The first certainly made its mark on Gossip Girl (die-hard Blair Waldorf followers could pick out The Mark’s monochrome lobby out of an extensive line-up of minions). And it’s the same handful of players who are also making history a little closer to home. Balazs’ Chiltern Firehouse, Ian Schrager’s London Edition and Chris Corbin and Jeremy King’s The Beaumont are all, by any standards, extremely new to London, yet it

f e at u r e

hasn’t taken long for them to be absorbed and heralded as an intrinsic part of the capital’s elite culture.

Much like their long-established relatives, it’s not the notoriety of the décor that everyone’s shouting about, or the fluffiness of the towels (though impeccable standards go without saying). Nor will it be the room service menu that goes down in history, when someone comes to write a similar article in 50 years’ time, and stumbles upon a retro not-so-ironic-now shot of Cara Delevingne and co with their tongues lolling out.

Of course, the hotel habits of the A-list aren’t confined to the capital. One of fashion’s most powerful Italian design duos is reported to have bought a property in Jumby Bay, Antigua, cementing the private island up there with Branson’s Necker Island as one of the most exclusive places to sun-worship the world over. The Rosewood’s Mayakoba erected a beach bar to host Sir Philip Green’s last big birthday bash (complete with a rumoured spat between Kate Moss and the not-yet uncoupled Gwyneth Paltrow). The ‘shack’ has now been turned into a grill-to-order restaurant, complete with live lobsters on ice. Head to One&Only Reethi Rah, and you won’t be surprised to see Naomi Campbell slathering on the cream alongside everybody else.

And while best overseas spa and design awards are all well and good for the luxury holidaymaker, it’s that added je ne sais quoi that will cement a hotel’s place in history. Whatever your background, the right hotel will provide the backdrop for those with the money, connections, and desire to be seen, to slip into society through an opportune crevice. As the American author and journalist Joan Didion observed: “Great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service.” n

 OLD GUARD  1. Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d’Antibes,

hotel-du cap-eden-roc.com

2. Byblos, St Tropez, byblos.com 3. The Ritz, Paris, ritzparis.com 4. Claridge’s, London, claridges.co.uk 5. Cliveden House, Taplow, clivedenhouse.co.uk 6. The Plaza, New York, theplazany.com 7. Chateau Marmont, California, chateaumarmont.com 8. Sandy Lane, Barbados, sandylane.com 9. Hotel Cipriani, Venice,

belmond.com/hotel-cipriani-venice

10. La Mamounia, Marrakesh, mamounia.com

 new GUARD  1. Chiltern Firehouse, London, chilternfirehouse.com 2. The Mark, New York, themarkhotel.com 3. Jumby Bay, Antigua, rosewoodhotels.com 4. Rosewood Mayakoba, Mexico, rosewoodhotels.com 5. Viceroy, Anguilla, viceroyhotelsandresorts.com 6. One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives,

oneandonlyresorts.com

7. The Palm, Dubai, oneandonlyresorts.com 8. Necker Island, British Virgin Islands,

neckerisland.virgin.com

9. W, Verbier, wverbier.com 10. Mandarin Oriental, Shanghai, mandarinoriental.com

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the lion’s share

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From borrowing luxury homes to jointly investing in lollipops, Gabrielle Lane discovers how a desire for value and experience is encouraging the super-rich to share

he high-net-worth individual (HNWI) returns to a four-bedroom townhouse overlooking Primrose Hill. She parks her silver Maserati, adjusts the timepiece on her wrist, and glances at her iPhone screen that displays a recommendation for a local restaurant, resolving to swipe through a few business pitches later. Then, with a smile, she deletes her personal messages from the phone’s SIM card and hands over the keys – to the car, the house and the cornerstones of her London lifestyle. It’s a routine that currently plays out across the world and – if trend analysts are to be believed – one that will do so ever more frequently in 2015. For HNWI individual X is not the member of an elaborate espionage plot, but an affluent woman benefitting from the peerto-peer [P2P] economy, which has flourished in an era in which luxury is being redefined. Conspicuous consumption and its gaudy labels are on the way out; the wealthy consumer wants choice and authenticity.

And they’ll get them by sharing services and products with people who are just like them.

In simple terms, a peer-to-peer economy revolves around access to a pool of assets, rather than their ownership. Existing users can make money from lending their possessions, time or savings to those

Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles – one property available for hire through One Fine Stay

looking for short-term benefit. Typically, the process is facilitated by an online business platform, which highlights the options and safeguards the exchange.

Such is the appeal that professional services company PwC estimates that a quarter of adults in the UK already use these digital marketplaces and predicts that the industry will be worth £9bn by the year 2025.

What is interesting is that it’s consumers who can afford to buy their own sports car or luxury holiday home that are increasingly keen to share, shunning the idea of exclusivity that has traditionally gone hand in hand with wealth. This is particularly true in the travel sector where home rental services such as One Fine Stay are thriving by offering accommodation in £250-£2,000 per night townhouses and condos while their owners are away, as an alternative to hotel suites. According to Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism at research consultancy Euromonitor International, there are various social and economic factors at play.

“Since the recession, people have been looking for non-standardised experiences with added value,” she says. “They want unique attributes rather than homogenised brands. The peer-to-peer business model started out as something more mainstream but by facilitating unique opportunities, it has aligned itself with the way that luxury concierge services have been working. The rise of P2P companies is also linked to the presence of social networks, online reviews and mobile communication. They occupy an intersection between luxury brands, loyalty and payments.”

Indeed, it was in 2009, when a co-founder of One Fine Stay felt that he hadn’t “cracked the soul” of a visit to Pisa, that he started to assemble a portfolio of properties around a simple proposition: visitors would have access to home comforts and local knowledge through an online booking service, and home owners would benefit financially from their absence.

“He tracked down a restaurant recommended by a friend and it transformed his whole experience so he wanted to open that opportunity up to everyone,” says the company’s head of brand marketing, Miranda Cresswell. “There will always be the high-net-worth

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consumer who wants to isolate themselves in a fivestar hotel with butler service, but being able to live like you own a home in one of the world’s best cities is the ultimate privilege. The additional value is that One Fine Stay is there for you throughout the experience – we offer bespoke toiletries, provide high quality linen, check you in and give you an iPhone for the duration of your trip loaded with recommendations and insights into an area. It’s worth paying more to have a hand-picked collection of homes.”

From an emotional perspective it’s easy to see why members would opt to see New York from the floor-to-ceiling windows of a swanky SoHo loft, or have the sprawl of a classical Parisian townhouse for the weekend, but it is the ability of peer-to-peer businesses to present themselves as a practical lifestyle solution for the corporate audience that is crucial to their success, says Caroline Bremner. It is, after all, often the time-poor business traveller who has assets in various locations but less time to enjoy them.

Peer-to-peer rentals currently constitute six per cent of the accommodation market “As shown by the World Travel Market Report, peer-to-peer rentals currently constitute six per cent of the accommodation market, but this figure is growing.

If you target the business market you have a lead in the luxury market as many of the individuals are executives with a relatively high disposable income. Accordingly, I think we will see peer-to-peer companies partnering with brands such as American Express in the near future, offering users special benefits if they subscribe to a sharing economy in order to connect further with this audience. I predict that there’ll also be increasing price-points within the market.”

Peer-to-peer platforms have already enabled new ways for individuals in the business community to work together.

Earlier this year, financial regulations were introduced in the UK to support online funding forums, which allow users to pitch directly to investors seeking to buy equity. Again, the concept was born of economic and social conditions. “On the one hand savers get very low interest rates at the moment; central banks around the world have lowered interest rates in an attempt to boost economic growth. On the other hand, credit for businesses is

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Previous page and left: Photography by Rachell Smith This page: Albert Terrace, London, available through One Fine Stay Image courtesy of Maserati

scarce. This is paradoxical, so borrowers and savers have looked for alternative ways to make the most of credit and savings opportunities,” explains Callum Williams, economics reporter at The Economist.

Enter Crowdcube; one funding platform which last year facilitated more than £12 million of investment and this year will oversee transactions to the tune of £30 million. “[Co-founder] Darren Westlake and I realised how difficult it was for small to medium enterprises [SMEs] to raise finance and that the options were offline and outdated. We wanted to be able to help entrepreneurs while making investing in businesses accessible and affordable for everyone,” says Luke Lang, CMO and co-founder, who helped campaign for changes in legislation to make peer-to-peer lending possible.

While investments can be made for as little as £10 through Crowdcube, individual shareholders have committed to sums of up to £400,000 in the past and more than 110,000 individuals are currently registered to view the business pitches online.

As with lifestyle opportunities, there is a practical element to the success of peerto-peer lending – the busiest time for investors to pledge funds is between the convenient lunch hour of 12pm and 1pm – and authenticity remains key to attracting subscribers. “People are able to invest with their head and heart,” says Lang. “Typically if you’re investing

into FTSE 100 businesses, they are faceless, corporate organisations. Or if you put money into an ISA it gets invested on your behalf. This way, investors can connect with the people behind an organisation and they’re getting the intangible benefit of having a social and environmental impact.”

Christine Lomax is one personal investor in London, who praises lending through Crowdcube and has put finance of £26,000 into various pitches.

“Crowdcube is more personal than other investment options,” she explains. “I like the fact that I’m making my own decisions. The openness is exciting: as well as business plans and cash flows you can see exactly how close the founders are to their target, how many people have invested, and who they are.”

The approachable nature of the service also attracts a vibrant range of small companies. “We’ve seen huge demand for the service since 2011,” says Lang. “[Peerto-peer business] now means you can invest your time and money in anything from lollipop-making to defending ships from pirates in Somalia. There are some really interesting opportunities out there.” n

euromonitor.com; onefinestay.com crowdcube.com; economist.com

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SALON STYLE We’re looking forward to visiting the newly reopened Patek Philippe Salon; the venerated watch company is now housed across both 15 and 16 New Bond Street and floor space totals a remarkable 420m². Patek Philippe’s London Salon (one of only three Patek Philippe fully owned retail showrooms, together with Geneva and Paris) now carries the largest and most extensive range of the brand’s watches that has ever been available in the UK. Visit to marvel at this beautiful white gold Grand Complication (Ref. 5270G) and the impressive interior, designed by renowned French designer Reda Amalou; the materials used, which include leather, alabaster, sycamore and brass, perfectly complement the elegant and sophisticated aesthetic we’ve come to expect from the brand.

16 New Bond Street, W1S patek.com

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collection

watch news Polished Precision Bremont, the watch brand that manufactures its mechanical timepieces in Henley-on-Thames, has introduced a polished steel version of its ALT1-C. The classic piece takes design cues from the British company’s 2012 Victory, which remains arguably the brand’s best-looking creation to date.

Whereas the Victory was limited (and sold out almost immediately), Bremont will make as many of the ALT1-C/ PW as it thinks it can sell, which, owing to its good looks and the cult following the brand commands, will more than likely be an awful lot.

ALT1-C/PW, £4,495 bremont.com

Raymond Weil Remembered Few are the watch houses still in the hands of their founding families. One that remains so is Raymond Weil; after 18 years of Raymond’s son-in-law being at the helm, the brand is now under the stewardship of grandson Elie Bernheim.

One of his first acts as CEO, following the recent passing of Mr Weil, was to launch the Maestro Raymond Weil Limited Edition, a rosegold-fluted chronograph embossed with his grandfather’s signature on its dial. An automatic-winding mechanical heart sits inside the COSC-certified timepiece, which has to be one of the brand’s most ambitious pieces yet. A fitting tribute indeed.

Maestro Raymond Weil Limited Edition £14,950, raymond-weil.com

From Space to Sea

High Performance Nestled between the watch world’s super-brands at November’s SalonQP was industry newcomer Breva. Yet to celebrate its fifth birthday, the Swiss firm graced the Saatchi Gallery to showcase its Génie O2 Air, a watch that in addition to telling the time will indicate both altitude and air pressure. Air pressure is measured using special nonmagnetic ‘memory metal’ capsules (invented by Breva) and a mind-blowingly complex system of gears. Expect big things from the brand.

Génie O2 Air, £82,000, Breva breva-watch.com

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When Felix Baumgartner became the first human to freefall at Mach 1.25, he did so with a Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th strapped to his spacesuit. If, as Zenith hopes, record-breaking sailor Yann Guichard wins the transatlantic sailing race Route du Rhum, he’ll do so sporting an El Primero Stratos Spindrift (from £6,000). If you’re looking for a nofear, sea-faring sports watch, what better option than a chrono that’s stood the test of one of sailing’s most treacherous contests?

zenith-watches.com

561_ChristopherWard_Vantage.indd 1

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collection

jewellerynews Collection IV

Independent Woman Having recently joined the company as its fourth generation head jewellery designer, Lucrezia Buccellati has already made quite an impact, launching a series of rebranding initiatives to make the family-owned, Italian heritage jeweller appeal to a younger generation. Along with a redesigned logo and a line of bejewelled iPad and iPhone covers, Buccellati is in the midst of releasing a series of short films, each featuring one of the brand’s female muses. The first

includes fashion designer Marta Ferri, while the second stars president of Spanish fashion brand Delpozo, Indre Rockefeller.

The third muse has not yet been unveiled but we can be sure that she will share with her contemporaries a love of Buccellati, a sense of timeless style and youthful ambition. The brand has also just launched a range of more affordable jewellery pieces, starting from £2,000.

buccellati.com

Cutting Edge Noudar Jewels and its exclusive new collection has arrived in Harrods’ Luxury Jewellery room.

Comprising an assortment of ring sets and finger bracelets inspired

by Islamic and Arabic cultures, the eclectic range remains signature to the brand. Designer Noor Al Fardan comments:

“The second collection is an edgier and a more daring version of the previous one; holding onto Noudar’s unique essence, focusing mainly on rings and earrings, taking inspiration from Arabic heritage” - Noor Al Fardan

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Rising star Lily Elia has launched a new 10-piece collection for her eponymous brand, Lily Gabriella.

Founded in 2011, the company has gone from strength to strength, and the latest collection is indicative of this; the jeweller harkens back to fond childhood memories of holidays in Brazil by creating a range of jewellery pieces which marry the natural and the sculptural, featuring smooth, undulating lines and never-ending circles that conjure up images of rolling clouds and rippling waters.

Full finger rings with blue sapphire pavé, on the other hand, possess an almost talismanic quality, shielding the wearer like protective armour.

Collection IV, from £8,190 lilygabriella.com

Scale the Heights Swiss jeweller Shawish Genève has landed in London with a debut flagship boutique in Chelsea. Inside, the contemporary design – featuring a spectacular glass tube chandelier centrepiece and a fish-skin motif in the facade panels – is in keeping with the brand’s innovative and visionary aesthetic. Well-known for creating high jewellery pieces, which combine traditional techniques with modern technology, arguably Shawish’s biggest claim to fame is designing the world’s first all-diamond ring, cut from a single diamond weighing 150 carats. From the enchanted Magic Mushroom collection to the whimsical Teddy Bear set (just some of the pieces on display), visiting the boutique is a magical experience.

Shawish Genève, 143 Fulham Road shawish.ch

BRIGHT

YOUNG

THINGS As we ring in the New Year, Olivia Sharpe speaks to the rising female stars who are changing the face of the luxury jewellery industry

TAKE FLIGHT with Georgina Skan

“S

o how big is your team?”

I ask Georgina Skan as we sit down for coffee.

“You’re looking at it,” she smiles, pointing to herself and her sister. “I like to think of it as the blind leading the blind.”

In spite of her self-deprecating appraisal, it is evident from her jewellery pieces that Georgina is anything but blind; in fact, she is clearly visionary. However, despite having been head designer at Garrard and Asprey, she has remained relatively under the radar.

After studying at Central Saint Martins, where she acquired a BA in jewellery design, Georgina then went on to work on the shop floor at Theo Fennell, but it wasn’t long before he realised where her talents really lay: “After months of bugging Theo he took me on as his PA, but then he realised how useless I was at it,” she explains, laughing. “So I ended up working with him for four years as his head designer.”

Next came Garrard, where Georgina joined Jade Jagger who was creative director at the time. After Jagger left, she was able to make her own mark on the company, responsible for creating the iconic Wings collection. She was then headhunted by Asprey, but after a spell as design director she found herself “itching to do her own work” so decided to wing it alone. Last year, Georgina launched her first eponymous collection; The Cocktail Hour. Comprising 10 pieces, ranging from Art Deco cocktail rings incorporating one-of-a-kind gemstones to a spectacular cuff inspired by French lace, it showcased her unique design talent and creativity.

Because of her old-school training, Georgina scorns computers in favour of traditional crafting techniques, thus giving her pieces an authentic and timeless quality.

“I think you can very easily develop a cookie-cutter approach when you’re designing collections,” she comments. “I’ve been guilty of it at times but I know now that it isn’t the best way to work.”

Having cut her teeth at some of Bond Street’s top jewellery houses, Georgina has a good relationship with some of the most respected stone dealers in the industry, all of whom emphasise the importance of ethical mining. This is a message that she too is keen to spread. “I couldn’t work with a stone dealer unless I knew for certain that they’d gone straight to the source.” Given the incredible response she received from The Cocktail Hour, this year sees the designer extend the range based around collection themes she explored initially: Lace, Coulisses and Cage. This will include a beautiful lace wing collar with a matching cocktail ring, a diamond and emerald bracelet based on the original Cage earrings (inspired by the tiny ribcage of a hummingbird) and a pair of wing-like, ethereal earrings which again incorporate beautiful stones but have a greater focus on diamond work. These pieces will be released over the course of the year while Georgina continues to work on selected bespoke commissions.

georginaskan.com From top: Cage emerald earrings; selection of cocktail rings from the Cocktail Hour collection; Cocktail Hour lace cuff

collection

TAKE FLIGHT

with Lily Kamper Q. What are your biggest inspirations?

A: My collections evolve from many different things: furniture, natural materials and architecture. The SS15 collection I launched last Fashion Week was heavily influenced by an architect called Ricardo Bofill. He designs brightly coloured, geometric buildings. I was also heavily influenced by Art Deco cinema lobbies and old black-and-white films.

Q. Biggest highlight of your career?

A: Vogue coming to interview me in my studio.

That was pretty insane. The Vogue Talents Corner was also amazing because I presented my work to Anna Wintour. She was very complimentary of my work.

Q. Last naughty purchase?

A: I got married this summer and we each bought NIKEiD trainers; I wore white trainers with a black tick and he had black ones with a white tick. Both pairs had our initials on them.

Q. What jewellery did you wear on the day?

A: A friend of mine, Ryan Storer, who’s a jewellery designer I met when we were both in Milan, sent me a couple of ear cuffs which were beautiful.

Q. What’s something that’s not commonly known about you?

A: I hate coriander. It’s my nemesis. When I go to a restaurant I have to pretend I’m allergic to it.

Q. Favourite piece of jewellery you own?

A: I have a really weird ring that my grandma gave me which is completely the opposite of my taste. It’s a garnet ring that’s half rose gold and half yellow gold. It’s very bizarre because I can’t understand why anyone would have repaired it using two different metals but I can’t help but love it.

Q. What have you got in the pipeline for this year?

A: I’m working on an exciting collaboration with Globe-Trotter which will be unveiled in February.

lilykamper.com

Image: S/S15 collection

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Sabine Ghanem is...

the RENAISSANCE WOMAN

S

abine Ghanem’s career to date sounds too good to be true. After all, here is a woman who fell into the industry almost by chance; after studying at the prestigious Gemological Institute of America, she was unable to find a job, so decided to give jewellery design a whirl. And after just two years, she has already achieved unprecedented success. Her debut collection Relic, an assortment of medieval-inspired pieces, was snapped up by the likes of Browns in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York.

This was followed shortly after by Harlequin, a 35-piece collection based around the colourful Art Deco movement, which was highly soughtafter. Speaking to Sabine, she is nothing if not humble: “I’ve just been very lucky. I designed the first collection without even a thought that it would turn into a job.”

It is because of this fateful series of events, perhaps, that she is so relaxed when it comes to her brand. Working from her Belgravia home, Sabine spends hours “overdosing on vintage imagery... my favourite part of my research is looking at old stuff; vintage films, books, even YouTube videos.

I’ve just watched a film from 1936 called The Great Zeigfeld and just the costumes could inspire a whole collection.” The designer is in the midst of creating her third collection, due to launch at the end of this month. While reluctant to give too much away, she does confide that, like the past two collections, she has referred back to the Renaissance.

A self-confessed hermit, Sabine jokes how one day she would like to open a store right at the entrance of her flat, “all in velvet and warm colours, like a beautiful jewellery box”.

sabineg.com

collection Clockwise from left: Sketches of the latest collection; Honeycomb bracelet; Cocktail Sting ring; Fire Wasp earrings; Honeycomb stud earrings (all part of the Predator / Prey collection)

Q. What’s your most treasured possession?

A: My photo albums full of collages and storyboards that I do religiously. I started when I was about 12 years old and I have so many now I can’t even count but if I had a fire those would be what I’d save.

a pretty penny with Tessa Packard Q. What are you currently working on?

A: I’ve just created a collection inspired by English penny sweets. It started off with the idea of going to a gemstone boutique and it reminding me of being a kid in a sweet shop. I like the juxtaposition of something that originally cost 1p and something that looks like a million dollars. Pieces with a lower price point can be collected over time and layered up, while the more high-end pieces include gemstone-encrusted honey drop rings and earrings, and these watermelon tourmaline slices that look like Brighton rock. It’s really fun.

Q. I understand you do bespoke commissions.

What engagement ring trends are you noticing?

A: I think there will always be a market for the Tiffanyesque single stone setting but I find people come to me because they want something that is classic but also different. I’ve recently finished a commission for a 90 year-old man who wanted a modern brooch for his wife for their diamond wedding anniversary. I love how even at that age they still want to give each other interesting, innovative presents.

Q. What do you love most about London?

A: It’s ever-changing and never-changing, if that makes sense. There are consistently new shops, new restaurants, new pop-ups. And yet, the Chelsea that I live in now is still the Chelsea that I grew up in; the feeling and the vibe hasn’t changed.

Q. Best beauty secret?

A: Lime juice mixed with granulated sugar as a face scrub. The acid in the lime eats into your skin so you come out looking glowing. I use it at the beginning of spring to give myself a bit of a revamp.

Q. Preferred exercise regime?

A: I do one hour of yoga a week for my back but otherwise nothing. I did 10 years of intense running but then I gave up because it made me into a bad person [laughing].

Q. Favourite place to escape to?

A: The middle of nowhere in Mozambique.

My family and I stay in a camp where there’s nothing around so it’s heaven.

Q. Worst guilty pleasure?

A: Probably lunchtime drinking. You know you shouldn’t really do it when you’re working but it’s just so nice sometimes!

Q. New Year’s resolutions?

A: To learn how to relax as I’ve become a total workaholic. I think my husband would really appreciate it if I wasn’t on Instagram every single second.

And maybe to make myself feel less guilty when I am on Instagram. n

tessapackard.com

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1 4

star struck The start of a new year sees jewellers looking to the stars for inspiration

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5 6

8 7

14 10 12

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1 Acte V green beryl Genesis ring, POA, Louis Vuitton, louisvuitton.com 2-3 Nuit de diamonds necklace in white gold with diamonds and black spinel beads, POA, and Voie Lactée bracelet, £17,500, both from the Comète collection, Chanel, chanel.com 4 Pompadour 18-karat white gold, sapphire and diamond ring, £4,300, Maison Martin Margiela, net-a-porter.com 5 Silver-plated Swarovski crystal necklace, £1,025, Ben-Amun, net-a-porter.com 6 Acte V Australian black opal Genesis necklace, POA, Louis Vuitton, as before 7 Cristal de Lune watch, POA, Boucheron, boucheron.com 8 Radiant gold-plated crystal necklace, £315, Lulu Frost, net-a-porter.com 9 Morning star earrings, £7,200, Mikimoto, mikimoto.co.uk 10 Lady Stardust Crystal Haze ring set in 18-karat white gold with hematite and white diamonds, POA, Stephen Webster, stephenwebster.com 11 Pompadour 18-karat white gold, sapphire and diamond ring, £2,800, Maison Martin Margiela, net-a-porter.com 12 18-karat white gold diamond ear cuff, £780, Anita Ko, net-a-porter.com 13 Rock It! cage pendant, from £2,300, Ornella Iannuzzi, ornella-iannuzzi.com 14 J12 Flying Tourbillon watch, POA, Chanel, as before 15 Pagoda earrings, £14,950, Robinson Pelham, robinsonpelham.com

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ELIZABETH STREET ELIZABETH STREET SW1 SW1 Bespoke fine jewellery We invite you to visit our website www.devroomen.co.uk 59 Elizabeth Street, London, SW1W 9PP +44 (0)207 730 1901

PARIS / JANUARY 23-27, 2015 / SEPTEMBER 4-8, 2015 PARIS NORD VILLEPINTE

BORN AND RAISED WITH MAISON&OBJET PETITE FRITURE, AT M&O SINCE 2010

WWW.MAISON-OBJET.COM

INFO@SAFISALONS.FR SAFI ORGANISATION, A SUBSIDIARY OF ATELIERS D’ART DE FRANCE AND REED EXPOSITIONS FRANCE / TRADE ONLY / DESIGN © BE-POLES - IMAGE © FRANÇOIS COQUEREL

scene

wish list

OFF THE RAILS Doff your hats and get the white handkerchiefs out as the Olivier Award-winning production of E Nesbit’s novel The Railway Children makes King’s Cross home from 16 December. The purpose built 1,000-seat theatre, complete with a railway track and platforms, was specially created on King’s Boulevard, which has been loaned for the duration of the run by Google.

With Downton Abbey’s Jeremy Swift playing Mr Perks and Caroline Harker recreating the role of Mother, the play will also feature a live steam locomotive and a vintage carriage, originally built in 1896. £1 per ticket will be donated to the Railway Children Charity, which aims to help homeless and runaway children throughout the world.

Tickets £25-£69.50, with 25 per cent off for under 16s Until 1 March at Concourse King’s Cross Station, N1C

The Railway Children 2011 production at Waterloo © Simon Annand

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local

update

BLURRED LINES Merging the work of two artists – painter William Bradley and sculptor Mark Selby – is a new exhibition titled Work Hard, Play Hard at the Berloni Gallery.

Both acclaimed artists – A collaboration by William Bradley was selected Bradley and Mark Selby for the Caitlin Art prize in 2009 and 2011 while Selby was selected for residency in 2012 at Nordic Artists Centre Dale – aim to convey a relationship between their different disciplines and emphasise their mutual interests in the history and future of Modernism.

Until 24 January 63 Margaret Street, W1W

ART FOR ART’S SAKE For its 27th edition, London Art Fair will be partnering with award-winning Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.

Established in 1988, it is the UK’s largest Modern British contemporary art fair and this year it will showcase artwork from more than 100 galleries, including Marylebone’s Thompson’s gallery and Jaggedart.

In aid of the event, Simon Martin, artist director of Pallant House Gallery, will curate a new exhibition that looks at paintings and drawings by some of the leading British painters of the 20th century.

Tickets £20 on the door, 21-25 January Business Design Centre Pretender 2014, Andrew Salgado 52 Upper Street, N1 courtesy of Beers Contemporary

town and country Revealing a different side of post-war Britain, Refiguring the 50s showcases the work of five painters and their relationships with the places they lived.

Through the course of their lives, every artist crossed paths with one another, and this display at the Ben Uri Gallery, including work by L S Lowry, is the first to bring their work together.

Until 22 February 108 Boundary Road, NW8

City Gentlemen, L S Lowry

scene Henry Goodman

THE BEST BITS Born in 1950 in the East End of London, award winning actor Henry Goodman has performed roles as broad as Shakespeare’s Shylock to smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago, gangster Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls to Philip in Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass. Through conversations with actress and playwright TracyAnn Oberman, From East End to West End will explore Goodman’s journey from a Whitechapel youth club to the stage. Travelling through the worlds of theatre, film, radio and musicals, he pauses along the way to share some memorable moments.

18 January at JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road, NW3 jw3.org.uk

NEW BEGINNINGS Head to the Roundhouse this January to watch a new version of Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, produced in collaboration with The Royal Opera House. Known as the earliest surviving opera, it tells the tale of the Greek legend Orpheus and his descent into the underworld in order to bring his dead bride to life. Directed by Michael Boyd, the production will mark the first ever opera staging by the Camden venue.

13 – 24 January Chalk Farm Road, NW1

SNAP HAPPY ATLAS Gallery is honouring some of the best photographers and works from the 20th and 21st centuries in its exhibition Celebrated. With a range of photography from abstract works by Bill Brandt, Andreas Gefeller and Niko Luoma, to classic black and white photographs by Henri CartierBresson and Robert Frank, it will pay tribute to different forms of the genre. Of particular interest is the creative work of advertising and documentray photographer Elliot Erwitt.

Until 24 January 49 Dorset Street, W1U

Above: ‘Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1989’

by Elliot Erwitt. © Elliott Erwitt Magnum Photos

parade’s end Welcoming in 2015 with a bang is London’s annual New Years’ Day Parade which has been going for 29 years this month. With a predicted audience of around 500,000 and more than 8,000 performers from home and abroad, the West End will see locals and tourists alike join the three and a half hour street party.

The chosen theme for this year is ‘London on the Move’ and the capital’s boroughs are being invited to voice ideas of what this theme should entail. Beginning at noon, the route runs from The Ritz in Green Park, down to Piccadilly Circus, through to Lower Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and then on to Parliament.

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There are pla

I

As Nairn’s London by Ian Nairn is republished under Penguin’s

f you’ve ever spent time in Waterstone’s glancing inside the many books devoted to London’s attractions, its historic buildings and streetscapes, you may have concluded that there are some pretty dire offerings out there.

The photography is often superficially attractive, but the written content is frequently hackneyed. Unless it is a picture book you are after, the general quality is poor.

There’s a test you can apply in deciding whether a guidebook is worth having. Turn to a section on a place or feature you are already familiar with, and ask three questions. Does the book tell you something factually new which is worth knowing? Does it express, in a rewarding way, something you already felt but had been unable to articulate? And, finally, does it challenge your previous understanding or sentiments, so that you see the place differently?

It says something about the current state of local book publishing when one of the few works likely to get an affirmative answer to all three questions is nearly 50 years old. But then the author of Nairn’s London, which has just been republished under Penguin’s Modern Classics imprint, has long commanded immense respect as an architectural writer and as a prose ‘poet of place’.

Ian Nairn was as intriguing a figure as some of the buildings and locations he wrote about. Born in 1930, this “awkward, shambolic character”, as Gavin Stamp describes him in a perceptive, newly written afterword to the book, had no formal architectural qualifications. Almost by an act of will, he had forced his way onto the Architectural Review in 1955, the

prestigious journal which had nurtured John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner. He quickly gained a reputation as a fierce opponent of post-war planning, and of suburbanisation. Fearing Britain was in danger of becoming one continuous, drab suburb, he coined the term “subtopia”. Unaligned to any particular movement or organisation, he was a kind of architectural ‘Angry Young Man’ (a new breed of architects who condemned the soulless destruction of Britain by post-war planning), but he worked for Pevsner on his Buildings of England series and, alongside writing several books, wrote for the Sunday Times. From 1967 to 1978 he made a series of highly opinionated, yet informative, documentaries for the BBC called Nairn’s Travels.

But this restless, melancholic, and essentially solitary man was also a heavy beer drinker. Stamp notes the number of pubs which receive a mention in Nairn’s London, and it’s only partially amusing to note within the entry relating to St Bart’s Hospital he says that “the pubs around here, as at Covent Garden, open early in the morning”. Increasingly disillusioned, he was eventually made to resign from the Sunday Times, and he had effectively drank himself to death by the age of 53 in 1983.

Since then many writers following in his wake have hailed the power of his writing. “During his short, furious, productive career, Ian Nairn had a more beneficial effect on the face of Britain than any other architectural writer,” argues Stamp. All his books, he reckons, are worth reading. But Nairn’s London is as good a place to start as any. Little more than 250 pages long behind its cover of a Routemaster bus showing Nairn leaning

scene

ces I remember Modern Classics, Jack Watkins revisits a timeless guide to London out of the driver’s cab, it’s slip-in-the-pocket handy.

Nairn never overloads the facts, and is a master of sketching out a quick visual picture in a couple of sentences. Turning to the section on Hampstead and Highgate, he writes stirringly of St Stephen’s, Rosslyn Hill, the atmospheric and somewhat foreboding church which sits at the top of the hill on the corner of Pond Street, above the Royal Free Hospital. Its Victorian architect, the eccentric SS Teulon was, predictably, a Nairn favourite and he wrote of the building as “a great hulk on a sloping site with a brooding and bulgy central tower made into a macabre Gothic dirge, moody and flashing with unexpected poetic juxtapositions”.

Nairn thought Hampstead village was “a bit of a joke”, tying in with his amusing comment elsewhere in the book that “Most of London’s villages are overpraised, and you end up staring gloomily at one tarted-up brick terrace and an old lamp-standard while the traffic roars by.” But he loved the Heath itself: “Nature fitting you like a glove, never uncomfortable, just made for healthy walks and happy dogs.”

Of course, much has changed since Nairn prowled London’s streets in between stop-offs to refuel in the nearest saloon, in the mid-60s. It’s poignant to read him on the gasholders behind St Pancras and King’s Cross stations, “a shout of sheer joy from the most unlikely place”. He finds the whole area, now of course completely transformed, “incredibly moving: tunnels, perspectives, trains on the skyline, roads going all ways”. His Covent Garden was still a fruit and vegetable market, the traders and porters “the hardestheaded and most cantankerous cockneys in London”.

One of the strengths of Nairn as an architectural writer was that he discussed buildings in the context of their surrounds, their humanscapes. It was this that set him against modern architecture, which so often seemed to have been worked up in an office with no sense of place. Even in 1966, the classic elevated viewpoint from Primrose Hill over to St Paul’s was being spoilt by the infringement of unimaginative office blocks, for instance, which Nairn labels “gauche packing cases”.

He doesn’t just point out the unexpected, but sometimes asks you to look a little closer at the familiar.

At Hyde Park Corner, “a maelstrom of useless motion,” the charming neo-Classical screen of Decimus Burton, on the north side, next to Apsley House, he reckons is “taken for granted more often than any other building in London”. And next time you take a summer stroll in Regent’s Park, entering via Hanover Gate and following the path south by the boating lake, look across at the villa, The Holme, across the water, fringed by weeping willows, and see how the view “sways and melts into a green masterpiece”. Nairn is the unassailable master at teaching us how to look, and then look again. n

Nairn’s London by Ian Nairn, with a new afterword

by Gavin Stamp, is published

by Penguin Modern Classics

From left: Penguin Pool, the Zoo; Holly Lodge, Highgate; London park: Primrose Hill; Trafalgar Square from the roof of New Zealand House; Danger, Cockneys at work: Spiegelhalters’, Mile End Road

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F

or a charity that’s all about the power of words, Room to Read does remarkably well with numbers. Nine million.

That’s the number of children it has provided access to better education since 2000. 16,000 and 1,800: these are the number of libraries and schools established in Asia and Africa in the same amount of time. More than 14.5 million children’s books have been distributed (both in English and 27 different local languages) and 25,000 girls have been supported

by Room to Read’s Girls’ Education programme. These numbers are impressive.

However, for every positive achievement and pound raised, there is a sobering statistic to counter it. Despite the large numbers Room to Read has helped out of a lifetime of illiteracy, there are 61 million primary school-aged children still out of school across the world, without access to education, let Room to Read founder John Wood alone books. This is a staggering thought for someone like me who, as a child, read voraciously and clambered up my shelves to reclaim the book my mother had moved to the top shelf in an attempt to stop me reading into the night. I have vivid memories of poring over, first with my parents and then by myself, The Lady with the Alligator Purse, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, A Little Princess and The Chalet School series. I adored libraries and bookshops (and still do), spending most school holidays with my nose in a book and rereading my favourites dozens of times. It made me imaginative, inquisitive and informed, and my vocabulary grew much quicker than it would have done by any other means. Quite simply I can’t imagine a life without being able to read, and I’m sure you can’t either.

I was sharply reminded of how lucky Did you know that 774 million people – 16 per cent of I am to have had access to this world of learning when I came across a book called the world’s population – are illiterate, or that of these, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World two-thirds are women and 250 million are children? a few years ago. It included these simple, powerful words spoken by a headmaster Annabel Harrison finds out more about in Nepal that stayed with me: “We are Room to Read, an inspiring charity that believes, too poor to afford education. But until we have education we will always be poor”. as Nelson Mandela did, that “world change starts The man who left Microsoft and founded Room to Read in 2000, after a life-changing with educated children”

Literacy forlife

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trip during which he met this headmaster in Nepal, is John Wood. He was shocked, upon visiting the school’s library, to find only a locked box containing a handful of worn travellers’ books and certainly nothing suitable for a school-age child. This was the catalyst for launching Room to Read, which has developed into one of the fastestgrowing non-profit organisations in history.

It currently operates in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Zambia, India, Tanzania, Nepal and Bangladesh, seeking to transform the lives of children in these developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.

There is no doubt that John’s business acumen and experience gained while working for a fast-paced, multi-national corporation such as Microsoft, as well as his can-do attitude, which I’ve witnessed first-hand, have been critical to Room to Read’s success. For every $1 Room to Read receives, 84 cents go directly to programmes, and for this it has been awarded Charity Navigator’s highest fourstar rating for sound fiscal management for eight years in a row, a recognition that only one per cent of its rated charities can claim. It maintains a diversified donor base with 51 per cent of funding coming from outside North America and it’s moving with the times; it was chosen as Twitter’s first Corporate Social Innovation partner. I find John’s story a most inspiring example of how much can be achieved when an ambitious and successful business person turns their talents to non-profit ventures.

What Room to Read does not do is offer handouts. One of its key aims is to build community capacity; for example, as part of the book publishing programme,

workshops are held with local authors and illustrators to empower a growing pool of local talent and thus enabling more books in local languages to be published.

Investing locally is also critical; teams from the community are hired to run in-country operations, and Room to Read partners with local communities and challenges them to co-invest in each project, ensuring their active participation and sense of ownership. Programme success is also tracked exhaustively (no doubt a positive hangover from John’s Microsoft days); during the first three years after a library is established, site visits are conducted every three months to assess progress, offer training and provide additional books and educational materials.

I spent an evening last month at Room to Read’s annual London fundraising dinner. Speeches were given by Maureen Simunchembu, Room to Read’s Literacy Director in Zambia and the spirited Esther Kanyanta, a graduate of the Girls’ Education Programme, who spoke powerfully about the impact Room to Read has had on her life.

John Wood also spoke, reiterating his belief that “no child should be denied the right to a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world”.

The whole room was moved by a 90-second video entitled Do Not Read This (I’d urge you to check it out on YouTube) and an astounding £1.77 million was raised, showing Londoners’ generosity of spirit.

I think that every person’s whose hand shot into the air had been reminded, as I was, just how much an education means to us all.

roomtoread.org

 want to 

get involved?

Choose from a number of donation opportunities that allow you to see exactly how you’re helping.

World of Words (£30,000) This package includes sponsorship of a first grade class at a school in Africa or Asia (they will learn to read and write in their local language) and of a school library, to support an entire primary school in fostering a love of reading.

Build a Bookworm (£20,000) This provides children with their own space to explore and learn by constructing – from foundation up – a free-standing library, filled with books, at their school and sponsorship of its first graders to learn to read and write.

R is for Reading (£10,000) This option provides all the first graders at a school with a trained literacy teacher as well as the materials required and an engaging environment to help them learn to read and write in their local language.

Inspire an Imagination (£5,000) Provide 5,000 books across RTR schools.

These books have all been commissioned for the libraries through local authors and illustrators and are published by Room to Read for children to check out and share.

Train a Teacher (£3,500) Support teachers in becoming trained librarians by providing the environment and tools required to integrate a love of reading into their lesson plans.

Donate a Decade (£1,500) Enroll and keep girls in school through to graduation with a decade of support for a girl on the Girls’ Education Programme.

London Chapter Volunteer If you’d rather donate your time and energy, consider joining Room to Read’s London Chapter: there are 50 chapters worldwide comprising more than 11,000 volunteers and these chapters collectively raise approximately 30 per cent of Room to Read’s annual operating budget.

To enquire about making a donation, contact Sarah Myers Cornaby, director, Europe and Africa; 020 7590 0042; sarah.myerscornaby@roomtoread.org; email london@roomtoread.org about volunteering for the London Chapter Room to Read UK is a registered charity no. 1125803

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www.my-perfect-t.com

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wish list

RANKIN AND FILE Following partnerships with Alex Box, Ayami Nishimura and Caroline Saulnier, prolific photographer and Dazed & Confused founder Rankin has teamed up with Hunger magazine’s beauty-editorat-large, and the UK’s first ambassador for Dior, Andrew Gallimore, to document their weird and wonderful collaborations so far, as well as showcasing some exclusively shot never-before-seen portraits. The glossy tome marks the fourth instalment from the beauty book series and focuses on British history shown through a combination of ghoulish and futuristic make-up. Don’t try this at home.

Andrew Gallimore by Rankin £40, boutiquemags.com

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STYLE Update the french connection Championing silk pantalons and broderie anglaise petticoats, luxury lingerie and lifestyle brand Madame Aime, which is launching in midJanuary, is putting continental flair into our basics. Using high-quality lace and silk, each design is inspired by Paris and crafted in France.

The brand’s laid-back yet modern aesthetic has already captured the eye of the buyers at Net-a-Porter, which will stock its first range.

Silk petticoat style skirt, £590, bra top, £170 and silk trousers, £325 netaporter.com

NEW YEAR: NEW JOB paradis found Fashion designer and Hampstead-resident Jenny Packham has used the crystal patterns and acid colours of her pre-spring 2015 collection as part of an edited range of accessories that glamourize any outfit. The metal and silk-satin Jerry clutch is hand beaded and available with a Perspex clip fastening and detachable chain strap.

For a more subtle finish, the clutch is also available in lilac.

Jerry Paradis clutch, £468 jennypackham.com

After months of speculation Mulberry has appointed former Céline accessories design director Johnny Coca as its new creative director. His new role will give him free reign over the brand’s accessories and ready-to-wear lines following the departure of Emma Hill in 2013. While he won’t start his new position until the summer, many insiders are tipping the new hire as an excellent choice, which will support the development of new talent at the British brand – Coca has previously tutored at Central Saint Martins, now based in King’s Cross.

mulberry.com

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BEST BOOT FORWARD If you thought Hunter just did wellington boots, think again. Its flagship store has just opened on Regent Street, reflecting its reputation for comfortable, practical and stylish accessories and outerwear for men, women and children. The Chelsea boot is among the classics that get a makeover, thanks to its glossy metallic finish (wet-look you see) and chunky heel.

Original high heel Chelsea boot, £260 83 Regent Street, W1 hunterboots.com

The art of Chanel Each year the Metier d’Art show celebrates the talents of the craftsmen and women whose work characterises Chanel. This year it did so with the theme of an Old World Austro-Hungarian fairytale. Models walked through the marble hall of the Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzberg in tiered dresses and blouses, embroidered with feathers and butterflies which in some cases had taken up to 545 hours to embellish at the Lesage atelier. The iconic Chanel box jacket was decorated in ribbons and shown in tones of forest green and bright blue.

chanel.com

MIU MIU’S Nomad land With a new year comes new horizons and Miu Miu’s Crosière collection, designed to pad that wardrobe lull between seasons, captures the essence of the ‘where/who am I?’ question.

The brand has chosen model Natalie Westling for a nomadic campaign in which she wears its psychedelic prints in natureinspired colours of moss green, blue and ochre, alongside images of unnamed landscapes and shapes. The key to the look is layering lots of clashing pieces – try it if you dare.

miumiu.com

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Mint long-sleeve blouse, £350, Edeline Lee, edelinelee.com; Yellow skirt, £70, Isabel Garcia Gold Label, isabelgarcia.it; High-waisted briefs £29, Hanro, hanro.co.uk; Grey wool coat £575, Marc Cain, marc-cain.com

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vision Take a tentative step into spring by teaming sheer separates with boxy jackets, boyish shorts and every day wardrobe classics Photography / Dominic Nicholls stylist / Anna Woodham

Blue jacket, POA, Pavane, pavane-london.com; Blue sheer jumper, £225, Nicole Farhi, 27 Hampstead High Street, NW3; Wide-leg trousers, £238, Emma Cook, emmacook.co.uk; Metallic silver heels £135, United Nude, unitednude.com

Orange sheer panel jumper, POA, CO-TE, farfetch.com; Grey crepe shorts, ÂŁ195, Hofmann Copenhagen, hofmanncopenhagen.com; White butterfly sneakers, ÂŁ140, F-Troupe, f-troupe.com

Cotton tuxedo shirt, £315, Atea Oceanie, selfridges.co.uk; Blue floral skirt with sheer hem, £564, Zeynep Tosun, zeyneptosun.com

Pleated dress, £329, A-Line London, a-linelondon.com; Classic slip-on plimsoles, £55, Vans, vans.com Stylist: Anna Woodham @ Frank Agency Hair Stylist: Julie Read @ Carol Hayes Management using Bumble and bumble Make-up Artist: Charlie Duffie @ Carol Photographer’s Assistant: Aurora Scheftel Shot on location at: House of Vans London (houseofvanslondon.com)

blog on

Harriet Baker and Gabrielle Lane meet the lifestyle gurus captivating a discerning audience online

The artist Perfect for: Jaded fashionistas If you’re familiar with Instagram then chances are you will have heard of a Mr Donald “Drawbertson” Robertson (@donalddrawbertson). A doting father of five, successful businessman and illustrator of distinctive doodles, Robertson has social media to thank for the popularity of his work. Having begun with playful portraits of co-workers during meetings, his light-hearted, colourful masterpieces featuring everything from giraffes to Anna Wintour’s signature haircut have taken the fashion world by storm.

J Crew, Brian Atwood, Marie Claire and Korean Vogue number among his industry collaborators. In his role as artist and head of creative development at Bobbi Brown, he was responsible for emblazoning a Giles Deacon dress with a lip print, which was subsequently modelled by Georgia May Jagger for London Fashion Week AW14.

Robertson admits he will doodle on virtually anything, merging incongruous images to poke fun at trends the world is obsessing over – picture a Kermit the Frog Birkin Bag, Louis Vuitton monogrammed rubbish and a box of Chanel Coco Puffs. His artwork is available for purchase on trendabl.com.

IN HIS OWN WORDS Name: Donald Robertson Age: 52 Profession: Artist and head of creative development at Bobbi Brown.

Founder of: Children Drue, Miles, Teddy, Henry, Charlie and @donalddrawbertson.

Number of followers: 100k+ on Instagram.

Target audience: World... the fashion folk mostly.

Celebrity following? Yes! I was following them and then I turned around and they were staring at me.

How did you come up with the idea?

I listen very, very carefully to the voices in my head...

Turning point in career: Getting my first iPhone.

Favourite piece: I tend to refresh that decision hourly.

Your inspiration: People who enjoy making beautiful, fun things.

instagram.com/donalddrawbertson

Donald Robertson Photography © Neil Rasmus

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The jewellery expert Perfect for: Sunday afternoon browsing Having made the switch from sketcher to scribe as former designer at jewellery house Shaun Leane, Beanie Major founded online magazine In Detail in 2011, cementing her network of fellow accessories designers, collectors and curators. She has since interviewed fashion visionary Patricia Field following the launch of jewellery brand Faraone Mennella, joined the Swarovski judging panel at Central Saint Martins to critique the designs of students and graduates and has modelled for Boodles. She works alongside photographer Harry Cresswell and regards jewellery as part of fashion.

IN HER OWN WORDS

Beanie Major wearing 18ct gold and diamond jewellery from Boodles Maze collection

Name: Beanie Major Age: 28 Profession: Jewellery writer, stylist, consultant and personal shopper.

Founder of: In Detail â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an online jewellery publication offering a unique insight into all that glitters.

Number of followers: 8.5k Target audience: Anyone with a passion for jewellery who is interested in discovering the latest collections from both established and up-and-coming jewellery brands, as well as looking into the jewellery boxes of a growing community of tastemakers.

Celebrity following? Some stylish ladies such as Caroline Issa (fashion designer) and Bip Ling (fashion blogger and DJ).

USP: Expert opinion, stunning photography and exclusive interview content.

How did you come up with the idea?

I was designing for a leading jewellery house and I saw a gap online. I was initially inspired by The Selby, which features the interiors of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes and Into the Gloss, which invites women to share the contents of their make-up bags and beauty regimes. Both give a personal and intimate insight into the way other people collect and curate things to express themselves Turning point in career? Starting In Detail Favourite post: An exclusive feature that documented the design and making of a bespoke Diamond Tusk earring by Shaun Leane, based on a design that was originally created for an Alexander McQueen catwalk show. In the intimate interview with the CEO and founder of the house, he talked to us about his memories of Alexander McQueen Your inspiration: The talented and inspiring people I meet every day.

indtl.com

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The beauty addict

Natasha Corrett Photography © Lisa Linder

Perfect for: Make-up advice Tanya Burr and YouTube are two words that go hand in hand. Viewers are invited to watch her early morning make-up routine, share her recipes for delicious sweet treats and hear her gush about her relationship with fiancé Jim Chapman. Her chatty and personable approach make her seem like a best friend – you just have to share her with millions of other followers. The vlogger’s (video blogger) success has led to a collaboration with Mulberry, charting how she accessorised its bags, as well as the release of her own cosmetics line, under the name Tanya Burr Cosmetics.

IN HER OWN WORDS

Tanya Burr image / Photography © Jon Stewardson

Name: Tanya Burr Age: 25 Profession: Beauty, fashion, baking and lifestyle blogger and professional YouTuber.

Founder of: Tanya Burr Cosmetics.

Number of followers: Twitter: 1.07m, Instagram: 1.4m, YouTube: 2.5m Target audience: I have people as young as eight watching my videos and I have people who are over 25 – it’s a very wide target audience.

Celebrity following? Surprisingly, Jamie Oliver follows me. I heard him talking about me on the radio the other day.

USP: I don’t really know – probably the fact that I’m accessible, relatable and really open and honest about my life with my viewers.

How did you come up with the idea? I trained in make-up application and started off working on counters in department stores. Collecting beauty products was a hobby of mine and I was very passionate about it. My fiancé’s sisters suggested that I use YouTube as a creative outlet to play with all my makeup. Initially, I started off uploading celebrity inspired make-up tutorials and my first views came from people who were hoping to recreate celebrity looks. However, when I branched out into video blogging about more than just cosmetics, my number of views spiked! I started to let people into my life and leave in funny outtakes.

Turning point in career? Tanya Burr Cosmetics was something I always wanted to do. I wanted to find the right people to work with and to make the best products. I’m so happy with it.

Favourite video post: Baking Oreo Cupcakes – a really fun, artistic video and the cupcakes were yummy too.

Your inspiration: Victoria Beckham – her style, her drive, her career. She has got it all.

tanyaburr.co.uk

The alkaline A-lister Perfect for: When you don’t know what to make for dinner Kale, kale, kale. This woman was responsible for putting the leafy green delight on the map last year.

And if you haven’t heard of the Alkaline Diet then I’m not sure where you’ve been. Daughter of interiors guru and Dragon’s Den investor Kelly Hoppen MBE (and former step-sister to actress, model and fashion designer Sienna Miller), Natasha Corrett of the Honestly Healthy brand is one of the most recognised names championing healthy eating today. Her herd of celebrity followers has prompted mothers all over north west London to experiment with meals which are free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar (but still delicious). The approach is said to boost energy and eliminate acidic waste products in the body.

IN HER OWN WORDS Name: Natasha Corrett Age: 31 Profession: Chef and food writer.

Founder of: Honestly Healthy blog and cookbooks.

Number of followers: 82.9k on Instagram Target audience: Females between 25-35 years old.

Celebrity following? Victoria Beckham, Laura Whitmore, Jessie Ware, Robbie Williams.

USP: It’s all about finding a healthy eating alternative and following the 70/30 rule, which involves eating foods classed as ‘alkaline’ 70 per cent of the time How did you come up with the idea? Through my own struggles, I thought if it worked for me it could work for someone else.

Turning point in career? When I launched my food range into Selfridges and got a book deal all in the same week, nearly four years ago.

Favourite recipe: From my website I am obsessed with the pumpkin gnocchi as its really easy to make and so delicious. From my new book I love my chia teff bread as it took me five goes to get it right.

Your inspiration: My mother and grandmother. They are such strong women in my life. My fans also inspire me as without them I wouldn’t be here today! n

honestlyhealthyfood.com Honestly Healthy Cleanse will be on sale 1 January 2015, £25 published by Hodder & Stoughton

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7/23/14 6:34:59 PM

HERVE LEGER LONDON BOUTIQUE 29 LOWNDES STREET LONDON SW1X 9HX T +44 20 7201 2594

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January 1. Chanel’s Rêverie Parisienne spring beauty collection is inspired by Parisian gardens, meaning colour themes of rosy pinks and leafy greens as well as neutral tones to add light and shade. The richer hues and pearlescent finish of the eyeshadow quad in Tissé Fantaisie No. 236 offers a slightly more mature take on the new season’s pastels. Available from January.

£40, Chanel, chanel.com 2. Guerlain has capitalised on the popularity of its illuminating powder, Météorites Perles, by infusing its new foundation with the same light-reflecting polymer and violet fragrance.

Météorites Baby Glow has a very light consistency and is intended to give a fresh-faced look, as well as a hit of vitamin E and SPF25.

If you liked Teint Soleil, you’ll love this.

£35.30, Guerlain, 01932 233 887 3. If anything can freshen up a pale January complexion, it’s a cheek tint – one that’s lighter than any powder or cream blush you’ve tried.

A couple of drops on the apples of your cheeks will give you the healthy glow of a brisk walk.

The effect of Cheek & Lipglow by Dior is especially youthful.

£27, Dior, 020 7216 0216 4. With a new year comes added commitment to wellbeing and lots of nourishing formulations to counter seasonal weather and excess. Clarins has launched a Limited Edition Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil, which uses hazelnut and jojoba oils to soothe dry skin. Its honey tint also enhances the natural lip colour and is a glossier alternative to a lip balm.

£18, Clarins, clarins.co.uk 5. The St Lucia Illuminating Multiple, out this month from NARS, offers a slick of shimmering colour to eyes, lips and cheeks, but we think this product belongs on the brow bones, where it works as a light-reflecting cream that stays put. Keep eye make-up soft and use this for a polished natural look.

£30, NARS, available exclusively at Selfridges

THE WORLD’S FIRST IN-STORE DNA TEST FOR PERSONALISED SKINCARE GENEU use their award winning in-store DNA test to analyse your skin’s DNA and discover precisely what it needs. Experience GENEU and leave the flagship store with bespoke anti-ageing skincare, uniquely recommended to ensure your skin receives the suitable active ingredients and concentrations in order to promote healthy looking skin.

Learn more on our YouTube channel: ‘GENEU Beauty’ 65 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON

020 7499 7161

GENEU.COM

beauty Update the Fuschia’s bright Burberry has unveiled the design of a palette inspired by its Burberry Prorsum SS15 runway collection.

As the brand becomes relied upon for its cosmetics as much as its clothes, the limited edition Runway Palette is a blusher that captures the vibrancy of the hand-painted illustrations used on its scarves, trench coats and dresses.

Inscribed with the saying ‘rain or shine’ it adds a rosy pink glow.

£45, Burberry burberry.com

SAY IT WITH SCENT

nudes flash Lifting and brightening the complexion is Bobbi Brown’s mission statement for January, made easy with the new Illuminating Nudes collection. We love the Almost Nude, Almost Pink and Almost Peach lip glosses (£18.50 each) which flatter all ages.

Illuminating Nudes collection from £16, bobbibrown.co.uk

Baccarat is to mark 250 years since the foundation of its crystal works by producing the same number of bottles of Rouge 540, a new fragrance presented in a 500g crystal case. Four craftsmen are involved in producing the flacon which has 96 facets and is supplied with a crystal pipette, tinted using 24-carat gold powder.

The fragrance itself was created by Francis Kurkdjian, one of the industry’s most renowned creative talents (famed for producing the Jean Paul Gaultier Male scent and Guerlain’s Rose Barbare) and blends wood, amber and floral notes. The price for its relative exclusivity? £3,000.

And, if you’re inclined you can even order a scented candle in a crystal vase for £300.

£3,000, baccarat.com

style

TREASURE CHEST Next time you’re in Regent Street, venture a little further south to Brummells of London, a beauty emporium that stocks some of the most luxurious and hard-to-find brands in the world. The new ultramodern space is crowned by a huge golden pineapple, and will suit discerning Londoners looking for quirky and beautiful gifts, natural products and fine fragrances. Karin Herzog skincare, Lalique fragrances and Ortigia candles line the shelves, or alternatively you can view and shop its discoveries online.

7 Denman Place, W1 brummellsoflondon.com

all about that base

NEW YEAR, NEW PROPOSALS

A new beauty innovation – brainchild of Professor Christofer Toumazou (European Inventor of the Year) – is allowing Londoners to optimise skincare regimes according to our individual DNA. Backed by a team at Imperial College London, Dr Toumazou – who devised microchips for cochlea implants in the past – has unveiled Geneu U+, a profiling system that enables the production of anti-ageing serums based on readings taken from cheek cells. Clients provide a swab and wait for just 30 minutes while a DNA BeautyLab analyses levels of collagen and antioxidants present. Products can then be directly tailored to treat specific signs of ageing.

Top wedding planner Bruce Russell has launched The Bridal Room, an online lifestyle service dedicated to the beauty, wellbeing and etiquette needs of brides and grooms-to-be. Calling upon a team of collaborators including health club Grace Belgravia, personal training studio Lomax and the at-home smoothie cleanses of The Juicery, The Bridal Room website allows you to book everything from luxury retreats to top-to-toe transformations before the big day.

thebridalroom.gift

Initial Geneu Experience Package including DNA test and two weeks supply of DNA personalised anti-ageing serum, £600 65 New Bond Street, W1S 020 7499 7161; geneu.com

into the fold Talk of new make-up for a new year is all well and good, but if you’re biggest concern is whether the products stay put then the launch of Couture Eye Primer from YSL Beauté is for you. Available in a matte or sheer finish, the base product helps eyeshadows to last all day and intensifies their colour. It has been introduced as part of the brand’s new Couture Variation range, which includes palettes containing 10 shades of the same colour for day-to-day tweaks and building intensity. The range launches on 28 January.

Couture Eye Primer, £23.50 YSL Beauté, yslbeauty.co.uk

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great thaw Photography / Jon Attenborough

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1. Lip colour in Nude Vanille, £37, Tom Ford, selfridges.com; 2. 5 Couleurs Kingdom of Colors, £45, Dior, 020 7216 0216; 3. Velvet Orchid Eau de Parfum 50ml, £72, Tom Ford, selfridges.com; 4. Gel effect Polish in Old Bond Street, £14, Nails Inc, nailsinc.com;

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5. Lipstick in 5 Alarm, £15.50, MAC Cosmetics, maccosmetics.co.uk; 6. Jasmine Rouge Lip Color in Vanilla Suede, £37, Tom Ford, selfridges.com; 7. Reckless Parfum 50ml, £345, Roja Parfums, available at Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie at Harrods; 8. Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal eye cream 50ml, £161, La Prairie, laprairie.com; 9. Mineralize Blush in Please Yourself, £21, MAC Cosmetics, maccosmetics.co.uk

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VILLAGE PEOPLE Kari Colmans test drives the Ham Yard Hotel’s Soholistic spa experience

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here’s a definite trend at the moment for imagining villages within central London. It all started with Marylebone High Street, run by the Howard De Walden Estate, which has been preserved in such perfect boutique/big-brand harmony that it has remained one of my favourite spots in London for a number of years, as well as inspiring a number of suburban imitators. Connaught Village was followed

by Portman Village, and then came Ham Yard Village, an all-new hub of flower stalls, childrenswear shops and juice bars, just a few steps from Hades Village – also known as Piccadilly Circus.

Talk of the town, of course, is the Ham Yard Hotel, the Firmdale Hotel group’s eighth London property, which opened amid many column inches last summer. Set on a three-quarter acre site in heaving Soho, the pedestrian-filled thoroughfare has projected the historic Ham Yard and Denman Place into the public consciousness for the first time since the 1960s. The bar and restaurant have been well received, making it almost impossible to get a table on a Friday lunchtime, much to the irritation of the non-bookers behind me as I’m shown smugly to my table, while the private cinema and hipster-chic four-lane bowling alley scream ‘meeja’ Christmas Party. But it’s the Soholistic spa that draws me in today, a brightly accented, shell-

celebration for the skin”, with ingredients including champagne, silk, diamonds, gold and black truffles. Post-steam, I’m shown to one of the three compact treatment rooms, and start off with a ten-minute back massage to get me relaxed. What follows is a range of techniques that really do leave me with dewy and hydrated skin: a warm melting Temple Spa mask that helps iron-out my London-air-induced eye wrinkles and a specialised lifting massage with two more masks to quench and calm and an iced blend to reduce any puffiness.

This is followed by a dollop of Temple Spa’s award-winning cult product, Skin Truffle, a small pot of which I was then able to take home. As well as the fabulous Temple Spa products, co-founder Kit Kemp has also launched an in-house bath product collection called Rik Rak, which is stocked in all the Firmdale rooms, and is available to buy in the spa and the village shop.

While Soholistic doesn’t ooze tranquillity and Zen quite like your Corinthias and Connaughts, it is unique, fun and very ‘Soho’, and the facial is one of the best and most relaxing I’ve ever had, complete with a glass of bubbly at the end.

Plus, it’s the only spa in the village. n

Next to the large gym, there’s a small hypoxic studio for elite altitude training

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covered and airy space, decorated with art

by Jack Milroy. It looks like the opposite of your typical London spa – a dark, Asianinspired candle-lit warren, filling your senses with tinkling music and aromatic oils – but it works. Next to the large gym, there’s even a novelty hypoxic studio for elite altitude training, where oxygen levels are varied for a more intensive workout.

Having vowed to abstain from last month’s decadences, I reason that booze and rich food don’t count if they’re going on your face, not in your face: after all, January ‘tis the season to detox and pamper.

Described on the website as the “crème de la crème of facials”, the Champagne and Truffles Deluxe treatment is a “serious

£150 for 90 minutes One Ham Yard, W1D firmdalehotels.com

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HEAR US ROAR We’re no tech whizzes, but we haven’t been this excited about a new music gadget since Apple launched its first iPod. The Aether Cone offers full access to 30 million songs when connected to Wi-Fi through Rdio’s on-demand catalogue, and learns your tastes the more you play. Voice activated to respond to smash-hit commands spanning everything from Katy Perry to obscure one-hit wonder,s you can turn the dial a little to hear something similar, or give it a spin to totally change the record.

Available in black and copper or white and silver, carry it from room to room for a chic and practical talking (and listening) point. It’s also a lot louder than it looks: wake up the kids with the Frozen soundtrack from the comfort of your own bed.

Aether Cone, £349, selfridges.com

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Interiors inspiration

DARE TO FLARE Founded in 2012 by Géraldine Prieur, the interior design studio Rouge Absolu has launched its first range of own-brand furniture, fabrics and wallpaper. Bursting with bright colours, daring patterns and unusual shapes, the collection offers a contemporary feel to spaces. The Sonho line has a particularly quirky style and is inspired by the vibrancy of Brazil. Slowly building a following in London, as it prepares to open a showroom here, the brand’s wares are currently available exclusively by requesting a brochure on its website.

rougeabsolu.com

heaven scent Born of her love for travel, the style editor at Jo Malone London, Charlotte Stockdale, has launched a limited edition home collection named My Wanderlust.

Each scent is reminiscent of a place and time in Charlotte’s life. For example, the Cardamom & Moroccan Rose deluxe candle (pictured) was inspired by days spent shooting for Vogue near a reservoir in the hills of the Atlas Mountains. The collection includes a candle, room scent, diffuser, soap, linen spray and travel bag, and stirs feelings of adventure in its purchasers.

From £28, jomalone.co.uk

interiors

NO BOUNDARIES Poggenpohl and Electrolux Grand Cuisine have partnered to launch The Fourth Wall, a new kitchen concept geared towards socialising and eating in one open-plan space. Taking its name from the world of theatre – the fourth wall typically refers to the barrier between the audience and actors – this idea is a move away from the traditional dining experience. Featuring a pantry, larder, wine cellar, pastry counter, preparation bench and eating area, this new design gives no reason to ever step away from the fridge – not that we are complaining.

POA, poggenpohl.com grandcuisine.com

SWITCH IT UP Bert Frank has launched its third season of statement lighting designs comprising table lamps, floor lamps, pendent lamps and wall lights. Available in virtually any colour or size, the latest collection is influenced by the industrial era and combines iconic metals of this period such as hand-finished aged brass, with sleek shapes for a modern twist.

Bert Frank also offers to design fully bespoke oneof-a-kind lights, if you can't find what you are looking for at first glance.

HANGING OUT

Kernel range starts from £819.60 bertfrank.co.uk

Artist and sculptor Stephen Myburgh has been experimenting with copper shapes and creating hanging chairs for more than ten years. In partnership with NW3 interiors, Myburgh Designs has produced a limited edition Gravity Swing. This latest design is intended as both a collectable piece of art and as a piece of statement furniture. NW3 Interiors offers a ‘try-before-you-buy’ policy in your own home, or at its Belsize Park showroom.

£11,995 plus VAT, 10 Lyndhurst Gardens, NW3

CLASSICS REVISitED The Ruby Tree has introduced its first range exclusively at Harrods. Bethan Gray (named Best British Designer by Elle Decoration) and Mitchell Abdul Karim Crites (a scholar and revivalist of Islamic artistry), have blended her knowledge of contemporary design and his enthusiasm for Islamic architecture to help preserve traditional craft. This pure white marble bowl is decorated with 300 hand-polished pieces of antique Lapis Lazuli.

Petal Lapis Bowl £3,995, therubytreecollection.com

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Lady luxe Kari Colmans talks hotel trends and interior design SAS with Tara Bernerd

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can tell Tara Bernerd is going to be ballsy before she’s even arrived. The hipster-styled staff at the Belgraves hotel are ushering me with check-shirted arms from the interior designer’s favourite ‘restaurant space’, to her chosen ‘bar space’, back down to the ‘lobby space’ (all of which she designed), as they’re unsure, given the timeslot that’s too late for lunch and too early for tea, which area will be just right. Her marketing director Lucien turns up first, already looking stressed that his charge is running late, and that someone’s moved the furniture around (not Tara) since their last impromptu drop-in. I sense as his eyes flash that she’s walking up the stairs behind me, and turn to see her schlepping a chair from one corner to the next, demanding to know who’s messed with the décor. In the spirit of banning bossy (banbossy.com), I find it all rather amusing, and decide, before we’ve exchanged one word, that we’re going to have a lot more than cushions to talk about.

Founder of the interior architectural practice Tara Bernerd & Partners, the company focuses on “creative direction and interior design”, with projects spanning New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai

Above: Belgraves, London Right: Tara Bernerd / Photography © Alex Lake

and Switzerland. We’re here, as far as I’m concerned, to discuss Hotel Russell, Tara’s latest refurb undertaking, initially set to open at the end of this year but now more likely to be ready in 2016. But I’m told, in no uncertain terms, that the project is off limits, much to the perplexity of everyone else present. Lucien’s grin is spreading with increasing Wallace and Gromit-style elasticity while his eyes are pleading with me not to make a scene. Tara apologises profusely for the mix-up, but won’t budge, despite the press release having already gone out and her website boasting a dedicated page (cue Lucien’s almost audible whimper). But luckily, it’s not the only news on the agenda: by the time you’re reading this, Tara’s latest project, SIXTY SoHo, will have just opened its doors. Following on from the success of Belgraves, the team was invited by the Pomeranc brothers to redesign the lobbies, bar and 96 bedrooms of the New York hotel. I ask what inspired the new design and how to make a statement in a town like the Big Apple, where every street sign and pavement slab looks as if it’s been hand-picked and placed with a stylist’s precision.

“Inspiration is a very interesting word because we have to be inspired to do the work that we do and I can’t always give that perfect answer of ‘oh, in that particular project, x, y and z got me going’,” she starts, before jumping up to pull the plug on an unsuspecting hoover and its dumbfounded operator. To be fair, the noise was getting my hackles up too. “I think that one of the challenges was to realise that this was a hotel that was really embraced by the local area,” she picks up again seamlessly, her hands clanging through her somehow chic pink hair extensions, as I study every beautiful ring and bangle. “It was really part of that downtown DNA. We wanted to oxygenate it, lift it, give it a new character, but not alienate it from what it was before. They say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and we were fixing it when it wasn’t necessarily broke.

Yes, we ripped out the ground and first floors and changed the lobbies and the bars, but we kept that essence. We looked at what was working and what wasn’t; why were people hanging out here less, what can we do to bring back a reason to be here?

interiors

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This could be a chic townhouse in Milan, mixed with a Parisian apartment – a little bit of everything European, but with a downtown edge. We focused on the huge windows looking out onto the city and really opened up the rooms, giving them a different grace. We looked at flooring so, as you go into the bar, there are these beautiful old tiles that you can then throw rugs on.

They’re something you might associate with a very chic Italian or Moroccan home, but it’s not trying to be ethnic for ethnic’s sake. We’ve paid real attention to the

“We will double hotel rates, we will increase main finishes – the wall treatments, the floor treatments – but it’s not overly fussy. It’s bold, moving itself around and really shaking things up.”

Tara briefs me on her hectic schedule for the coming week, which sees her whizzing across continents via luxury penthouses and resort-style villas. Her main model is business to business, but occasionally the odd private client will slip through the net. “Very often we’ll have bachelors who just travel, they don’t want to know. They’re only interested in budget, timing and us bringing the ideas. Those three credentials are what’s key for the business-to-business model. We give you the idea and we work to the budget and timeframe. Most private commissions [require] an emotional journey. They want to be emotionally led; they want to see, they want to share, which is great, but our strength is determining the vision and then

interiors Top to bottom: Tara’s riverside home; SIXTY SoHo, New York; Thompson Chicago

fulfilling it. We add value. We will double hotel rates, we will increase the value of an apartment – so people choose us as a business decision. I am a designer and an artist at heart, so obviously I want everything to be as beautiful as we feel it can be, and if it’s deemed so by others then we are in a good place.”

Tara likes to avoid the word “trends” when I ask for forecasts or personal pet peeves. I have the feeling she has a list, but is holding back. “I think today people as a whole are moving away from that minimal feel when it

down and have dinner with me. It’s not fussy and what I don’t do is use my home as a platform to show off or [try out] every little thing. Sometimes I will walk into projects and love them more than my home!

“I’ve never been too much into pinks, reds, yellows, that sort of chintzy look… but then I could go into a room that was done by David Hicks all those years ago and go ‘wow,’ so I just hate pretentious design. Too many satin fabrics – I’m not into shiny fabrics that much. I’m not a pearlised person – on my nails, round my neck or in my fabrics!”

She loves to collect art and has been on the receiving end of some good investment advice. “I have always collected art but I have been slam-dunked by everyone’s run at Frieze. Suddenly every banker with a great big cheque at the end of the year is an art collector – I’m not but I have always bought art, I’ve always loved it. I’ve been blessed with great friendships – old friendships. Jay Jopling, the art dealer and gallerist, gave me my first break – one of my first jobs was at the very first White Cube. I did his office – years ago! Tim Jefferies is also an old friend. I’ve often bought photographic art through him. I love to learn from those who know more. I’ve been buying a lot of 1950s Murano glass over the years, too.”

Her number one tip for giving your space a facelift is just to tidy up first. “We always think something needs to be changed, but I really believe in being aware of your space. Sometimes all you need is a huge spring clean.

Change for change’s sake is not always cool. Sometimes a space feels worn out and it doesn’t quite feel the same.

A friend of mine said recently ‘oh we never use this room’ and then I went round and she had a flipping dining table in there for 10 people, yet she always sat in the kitchen. Why? We upgraded the big kitchen area and made it more chic and got rid of the stupid dining room table and made it a big living room space. How you use a space is really important. If you are going to try new fabrics, make sure you always put them out. If you’ve

the value of an apartment – so people choose us as a business decision” comes to hotels. They seem to want a home from home; the layers, something approachable but still aspirational.

What a hotel should do is stand on its own two feet and always be that place – like your Claridges in London or the Mercer Hotel in New York – that’s always remained true to itself. You have to have true grit, true confidence.” Tara in a nutshell.

Home is Battersea, right on the river – “because I am obsessed by views, to look out is the dream”– and she still finds time to entertain in between the red-eye commutes. There must be a lot of pressure when you entertain at home, I say, a lot of rubber-necking.

“The people that come round to my home are such good friends that yeah, of course they probably do [like to look around], but I think if I lived in a messy, badly designed, not thought-out space, they would be surprised, but then they’d open a bottle of wine and sit

got a grey next to a check, does it work with the wood?

Don’t underestimate getting the samples and seeing them all together and to scale. The amount of times people have got a sofa the wrong size compared to a chair!

And it’s not necessarily the width or height, it’s the scale compared to everything else in the room.”

Tara practises what she preaches: “I wear what I feel. I am not a cashmere twin-set with pearls person.

There are those who do it beautifully and I admire that on others but my style has always been a bit more bold; more handsome than pretty. I am always travelling for the projects we have – we are a bit like the SAS of design and I like that. The navy seals of interiors.” And I can’t imagine anyone more fitting to inspire and motivate a team of style-warriors. n

tarabernerd.com

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fa m i ly

wish list

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoe time Longstanding Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo has been designing shoes since 1927. Now in its third generation, the brand has introduced Ferragamo MINI, an exclusive shoe collection for girls.

Featuring two modified styles from its womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s range: the famous roundtoed ballerina shoe that Salvatore developed for Audrey Hepburn, and Varina, its bestseller finished with the signature bow. The new designs come in a variety of textures including patent and shimmering glitter.

From ÂŁ225, ferragamo.com

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nurserynews DRESSING TO THE NINES When Spanish mother-of-five Celia Muñoz began dressing her first daughter, Flavia, she was overwhelmed by the attention her little girls’ outfits attracted when out and about near her Hampstead home. In 2012, she launched a vintage-inspired childrenswear collection for girls and boys aged eight and under.

La Coqueta stocks designers entirely sourced from Spain, which promise to be functional, stylish and hardwearing, so they can be passed down from child to child. Its preview SS15 collections feature quirky pastel colours with pretty smocks for the girls and check shirts for the boys.

5 Heath Street, NW3

SLEEPING IN STYLE

© catwalker / Shutterstock.com

Nubie was born out of a love for design, coupled with a lack of inspiration when browsing for cool original products for the nursery. These new baby rockers, which are available in shades of pink, white and blue, promise a natural rocking motion that will softly comfort a newborn. Established just seven years ago, many of its products have been created by talented parents that are now established designers.

£170, nubie.co.uk

SWEETER THAN HONEY We’ll be dousing our porridge with an extra squeeze of honey on 18 January as it marks the birthday of AA Milne, born in 1882, and with it, international Winnie The Pooh Day. Our favourite Pooh quote says everything about why this special bear deserves a day in his honour: “If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus one day, so I never have to live without you.”

fa m i ly

BEWARE THE JABBERWOCKY Taking a leaf out of Lewis Caroll's 1872 ‘nonsense poem’ from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, the Little Angel Theatre welcomes Jabberwocky to its stage this month. With the use of comic puppets, the production tells the story of a boy who ventures into the forest and stumbles across some strange creatures including the frumious Bandersnatch, a Jubjub bird and a fearsome galumphingprone monster, the Jabberwock.

The 100-seat theatre, established in 1961, is one of only three bricksand-mortar puppet theatres in England. O frabjous day!

until 1 February, suitable for children aged six and over 14 Dagmar Passage, N1 littleangeltheatre.com

play right hot fuzz French brand Petit Bateau has partnered with London-based character Fifi Lapin to design a limited edition T-shirt collection for children and women.

An international blogger and the world’s most stylish rabbit, Fifi Lapin illustrates catwalkinspired looks on her long-eared alter-ego bunny. This collaboration sees the fluffy fashionista styled in a selection of looks from Petit Bateau’s key winter pieces. T-shirts are available online and in store at Petit Bateau until February.

Before jetting off to the likes of New York, Hong Kong and Korea, Lionboy will be making itself at home at the Tricycle Theatre. Set in a time where phones are powered by the sun and cars are forbidden, Charlie, a boy with a special talent to speak to cats, embarks on a journey to rescue his parents who have been kidnapped. Inspired by the novels of Zizou Corder, the production will be headed up by award-winning theatre company Complicite.

Until 10 January 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6 tricycle.co.uk

From £18, 19 Hampstead High Street, NW3 petit-bateau.co.uk

animal instincts From friendly foxes and brave owls to adventurous badgers and hunting hedgehog, amuse your little ones with Woodland Friends, a collection of 20 pull-out prints by Marie Perkins.

Textile designer and author Perkins (fictional name Bowie Style) began the Print & Pattern blog in 2006 while researching for mood boards and it's now a must-read. Featuring the artwork of both UK and US artists, these prints will transform a child’s bedroom with little effort – all you have to do is pull one out and place it into a standard picture frame. Available from 1 January.

£17.95, laurenceking.com

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health&fitness

health & fitness All’s fare in love and food

Rose Llloyd Owen

Non, Je ne regrette rien

On Saturday 24 January, Rose Lloyd Owen, boutique caterer and founder of Peardrop London, is teaming up with the likes of Hemsley + Hemsley (former Vantage cover stars) to create a one day health festival named Fare Healthy. The curated health, food and fitness concept is set to take place at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green and will feature London’s hottest fitness experts hosting sessions throughout the day, including a taster class led by Russell Bateman, the man behind models’ favourite Skinny Bitch Collective, a Beyoncéinspired dance workshop courtesy of FRAME and Vinyasa Flow Yoga

by Mischa Varmuza. Luxury fitness outfitters will also be on site with their stylish workout collections.

‘Non, rien de rien; Non, je ne regrette rien’ goes Edith Piaf’s famously defiant tune, which can be easily paraphrased as ‘no, I regret nothing’.

Nod to those pious ‘new year, new you’ workout-aholics with this rather tongue-in-cheek cashmere sweater, ideal for lounging around post turkey and stuffing marathon. As cosy as a pig in a blanket.

£169.99, store.orwellausten.com

£17 per ticket, 19 Kilburn Lane, W10 peardroplondon.com/fare-healthy Hemsley + Hemsley

Raw probiotic blueberry cheesecake

HAVING A BUBBLE If you’re struggling to find a regular supplier for those essential vegan cosmetics, then Hampstead’s recent addition, Bubbles and Light, should be your new go-to store. With all of its stock handmade in Britain, the artisan shop only uses ethically sourced, fair trade, sustainable ingredients. Ideal for the allergyprone, there are even products for sufferers of eczema, psoriasis, colds – and man flu.

9 Flask Walk, NW3 bubblesandlight.london

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The cure for a broken HEART

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Renowned personal trainer Matt Roberts has launched a two-day fitness retreat at country house and spa hotel Lime Wood.

Gabrielle Lane explains why it’s the best thing she’s ever done

n December 2013 I was in Switzerland for a long weekend. It should have been three days of bliss – eating fondue at mountain-top cafés, enjoying spa treatments and making the most of the first snowfall of the ski season. Instead, as the group I was with drank wine by the fire, I was pacing the floor of my bedroom, gripped by the symptoms of a panic attack. My insides churned and coursed with adrenalin, before a crushing mental claustrophobia set in: I felt as though I was trapped inside my own body, observing my own rapidly firing feelings of dread, yet completely disconnected from them.

I told no one. Every time it came to a group activity I would plaster a smile on my face; this was

Lime Wood country house hotel

a work trip and I was there to socialise. But I would dread every pre-dinner shower, every outfit change, every moment I had to be alone with my own thoughts, in case the anxiety returned. Back in London an editor remarked more than once that the Switzerland article lacked a certain joie de vivre. Still I kept quiet.

I open this feature on Matt Roberts’ Fitness Retreat at Lime Wood Hotel with this anecdote because for the dark couple of weeks that followed my trip to Switzerland – which mercifully coincided with the Christmas break from work – only two things were able to make me feel better. One was applying my lipstick, which gave me a sense of control and normality. The other was running. The much-hyped

health&fitness

endorphin-boost of exercise is real and does work as a mood lifter. By the time January arrived, I felt like myself again.

I was reminded of the invisible benefits of exercise after a weekend of five-hour fitness sessions with Matt and his team – who are responsible for maintaining some of the most famous physiques in the world. When you’re sprinting up a hill at 7am in the rain (the timetable describes it as a ‘sunrise run’), it doesn’t matter that your hair is a mess, whether or not someone important has replied to your email, or what you need to do next week – or next year. And I think sometimes we all need to remember that.

You can’t help but leave a retreat with a whole new surge of confidence and respect for your body The focus of the two-day retreat is wellbeing, not weight loss, which means fluffy white bath robes, daily massages, dinner at Hartnett Holder & Co (the upscale restaurant by chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder), and schedules punctuated just as much by yoga and pilates tuition, as resistance training with weights.

The fact that at Lime Wood you receive personalised coaching in the surroundings of the New Forest, and spend your days jogging past ponies and doing step-ups on a deck overlooking the countryside, only serves to add to the sense that you’ve escaped city life. At night, it’s back to the best available room at the hotel to recover – which for me meant the Coach House cottage, which had its own garden, lounge and log fire.

The exercise programme itself is deliberately intense. It hurts. While you don’t need to be a marathon runner beforehand, don’t sign up if you’ve not been for a jog in 20 years. Designed to push through an individual’s limits of agility, strength and flexibility in a way that means all you can do is grit your teeth and focus on movement, posture and breathing, the daily programme

switches through bouts of high-intensity cardio, kettlebell work, core strength moves and cycling to keep things interesting and deliver whole body results.

The group of attendees is small so there are no hiding places: Matt and Lime Wood’s fitness coach John encourage extra repetitions and further distances at every stage. Within three minutes of starting a run through the forest, John pulled me aside and asked if I’d sprained my ankle as a child. He was able to spot an 18-year-old injury from the direction I pointed my toes in. Working out with two people who can detect every twinge of pain and misplaced foot before you can, is strangely intimate, and when those people accept your lack of co-ordination, comfort you as you try not to be sick from exertion in the middle of a downpour and praise your efforts throughout, you can’t help but leave with a whole new surge of confidence and respect for your body.

Matt Roberts (who, in case you were wondering, is built like a very strong and strangely lean robot) not only coaches the fitness sessions but dines with clients at meal times, which means you can ask sporty questions if you wish, if only in hope of answers that include stories about his celebrity client list. It has featured Madonna (he refuses to take responsibility for her ultra-defined biceps), David Cameron (his police protection officers must join in by default), Naomi Campbell (better without make-up) and Vladimir Putin (no comment).

Matt himself eats fish and chips only once every six months and breakfast and lunch at the retreat are provided by Raw & Cured, Lime Wood’s healthy restaurant and juice bar. The fact that nothing is Matt Roberts, personal trainer cooked isn’t as weird as it sounds: the food was so good that I pretended I would return to London and buy a spiralizer (to make raw pasta from butternut squash) or a dehydrator (to sweat mushrooms overnight at temperatures below 50°C).

We ate sundried tomatoes and hunks of mozzarella, stuffed peppers, crab salads cured with lemon and lime juice and cheesecake made from cocoa and mashed up avocado, all the while reassured that we had trained so hard that our bodies would burn fat continuously for 48 hours after leaving the retreat.

I cried once and I couldn’t walk for three days after I left – but I absolutely loved it. The cure for a broken heart is to push through it, not around it. n

Rates for a two-day retreat at Lime Wood start from £750 per person limewoodhotel.co.uk/pamper/mattroberts-fitness

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JDoc365 is a private GP service with new surgeries at The Wellington Diagnostics & Outpatients Centre (WDOC). Originally established in Hendon in 2006 by Dr Walter Abelman, the JDoc practice has grown steadily since then. Previously located in a neighbouring hospital, JDoc365 relocated to WDOC in Golders Green, this October.

health promotion

Coughs and colds Dr Evan Kabir and Dr Walter Abelman are two private GPs from the JDoc365 service.

Here, they discuss the symptoms and management of common colds and flu and the best way to prevent catching a bug this winter

Coughs, colds and flu are common winter illnesses. They usually resolve themselves in people with a normal immune system.

Rest, increased fluid intake and good nutrition are practical ways to get better, while over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can help relieve symptoms of fever, aches and pains. Steam inhalations may also help clear mucus from the nasal passages and chest.

Approximately 44 per cent of people suffering from cold symptoms will visit their GP, expecting to be given medication.

As cold and flu are caused by viruses, antibiotics will not be beneficial, but may be necessary if there are complications such as a bacterial infection. Initially, your pharmacist is the best resource for seeking advice on easing symptoms and for further recommendations of over-the-counter remedies.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms can vary between individuals but with self-management most will resolve, or at least improve, spontaneously. These include: nasal congestion or a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, headache and a high temperature. During a case of flu you may also feel lethargic and experience weakness, as well as generalised muscular aches and pains.

When to visit a GP? Most cold and flu symptoms will easy within four to five days, with complete recovery taking up to 10 days.

In cases where the flu may be more severe, a full recovery can take up to two weeks. In the majority of people, most coughs will settle within three weeks, whilst those suffering with a sore throat will begin to feel better within one week.

You should usually seek advice from a doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms: • High fever (persistently over 38°C, lasting three days and not eased by painkillers) • Shortness of breath • Chest pain • A cough lasting over three weeks • Coughing up blood • Hoarse voice lasting over three weeks • Persistent sore throat that lasts longer than seven days • Difficulty swallowing (which is affecting fluid intake or causing drooling) • Excessive drowsiness, dizziness or disorientation • Abdominal pain • A history of a chronic condition such as asthma or an immune deficiency With children, you should also seek advice if any of the following apply: • Cold hands and warm body • Vomiting (without diarrhoea) • Rash • Poor fluid intake Prevention It is often difficult to prevent the development of a cold, but there are measurements you

can take to help reduce your risk of catching a virus. By ensuring you maintain a balanced diet and partake in regular exercise, keep hydrated, limit stress and keep good sleeping habits, you will begin to feel the benefits to your health.

If you do catch a bug, you can help prevent the spread of the infection by ensuring good hygiene practice, such as regularly washing your hands with soap and cleaning surfaces with disinfectant. The government initiative, ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’, also highlights the importance of using a tissue to catch coughs and sneezes; preventing viruses spreading through droplets in the air.

(Source: www.treatyourselfbetter.co.uk)

For further information or if you would like to arrange an appointment at The Wellington Hospital, contact the hospital Enquiry Helpline on 020 7483 5000 or visit thewellingtonhospital.com

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THEMACALLAN.COM P L E A S E S AV O U R R E S P O N S I B LY

Macallan Amber KensingtonChelsea Ad 297x210 191114.indd 1

19/11/2014 09:33

food&drink

wish list

LE CHALET GIRL Anything that brings to mind an image of Ed Westwick (AKA Chuck Bass) is a winner in our book. Especially if it also combines such hearty après-ski fare as buttermilk chicken schnitzel, baked raclette and apple streusel tart, as well as a full hot ‘choctail’ menu.

But we’re not talking about some hole in the mountain up Verbier way: this is Selfridges’ newly converted rooftop space, an alpine snug of winter ferns, soft blankets, and twinkling fairy lights, courtesy of Alexander Waterworth Interiors. The second of the store’s On The Roof With... residences, Camden locals will also recognise some accents from Le Chalet’s sister restaurant, Q Grill on Chalk Farm Road.

Le Chalet will run until the end of February on Selfridges’ rooftop, 400 Oxford Street, W1A q-grill.co.uk

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Foodie favourites BACK IN THE GAME We’ve always known that Marylebone was one of the chicest spots in town, but now that Chiltern Firehouse has turned the world’s attention to the London village, the neighbours have had to raise the bar in order to keep up with the Balázss. 108 Brasserie, formerly 108 Bar and Grill, has had a makeover, and is now offering an all-day menu of simple British dishes made from locally sourced and seasonal ingredients.

Expect octopus carpaccio with a tomato and chilli dressing and confit breast of lamb with celeriac remoulade alongside dishes such as crispy pigs cheeks with apple and raisin chutney. January resolutioners can choose from a chicory, pear, stilton and pickled walnut salad or grilled organic salmon from the Josper grill.

HAVE A BUTCHER’S

108 Marylebone Lane, W1U

TRICKS OF THE TRADE If learning how to cook is a new year’s resolution you’re determined to stick to, then here are two new cooking classes promising to transform you into a seasoned chef. Learn from the masters of the Caprice Holdings restaurants as they take over the Cookery School at Little Portland Street and celebrate dishes from The Ivy, J Sheekey and Daphne’s. Down the road, Pescatori has launched Seafood Master Classes, where executive chef Chris O’Neil is teaching the art of preparing simple and delicious seafood dishes, from the right way to shuck oysters to making the perfect ceviche.

The Taste of The Ivy, 30 January; 15 Little Portland Street, W1W Pescatori, 57 Charlotte Street, W1T

We can hardly keep pace with the daily openings, pop-ups and refurbs over in Fitzrovia. Having previously lent its fare to the Brighton and Henley Regatta, Ceru, courtesy of Barry Hilton (previously at Black & Blue and Yalla Yalla) and Stephen Gee (who’s currently chairman of Carluccios, Gaucho, Busaba Eathai & Iberica) has settled for a five month period to serve Levantine dishes including roast fillet of gurnard with oregano and chilli, and slow roast lamb shoulder with shawarma spices: we’re spotting a Middle Eastern foodie boom for 2015. The only downside is that you may have to queue.

If there weren’t already enough reasons to move to West Hampstead, here’s one more. And no, it’s not the recent opening of a Little Waitrose (complete with free tea and coffee for myWaitrose card holders), although we did break into a spontaneous heel-click at this exciting addition to the high street.

Our jubilance comes courtesy of a second outpost from The Hampstead Butcher & Providore. Its first shop opened on Rosslyn Hill just four years ago, and it has since attracted shoppers from far and wide with its top-notch produce and service. So much so, that even Ashton Kutcher thought it appropriate to pose for a selfie in front of the window display. Along with experienced butchers on-hand to prepare a comprehensive selection of meat, advice on cuts, cooking tips and recipes, there are an array of delicious cheeses, charcuterie, wines, locally brewed beers and groceries to choose from. So much more than your meat and two veg.

29 Rathbone Place, W1T

244 West End Lane, NW6

L’CHAIM

food&drink

Restaurant Review

The red carpet treatment

‘E

Soho’s new restaurant and cocktail lounge Old Tom & English is Gabrielle Lane’s new winter hideout

very action has a reaction’, so they say. If you’ve been preparing yourself for the food trend to follow 2014’s hipster-casual, one-dishdining affairs, you (and I) can rest assured it’s not queuing in the rain next to a van serving Wagyu burgers or foraging for your own side-orders on Hampstead Heath.

At Old Tom & English, a Soho restaurant and cocktail lounge that opened in November, bookings are compulsory. This being the epicentre of fashionable London, you still have to walk up and down Wardour Street a few times before you find it (there’s no sign) and you have to ring a big brass doorbell before a girl answers and ushers you down to a cellar while you hope you’ve found the right place – but once you’re there, you’ll at least have a seat.

And thank goodness, because Old Tom & English is a stylish but relaxed venue for a date or dinner with friends, in an area in which all roads seem to lead to the Riding House Café or Dean Street Townhouse. It’s designed by Lee Broom to reflect 1960s home entertaining and there’s

Egg and Mushroom on Toast

The whole evening felt indulgent and worth it – like a treat should a definite Mad Men feel about it with its vivid red shagpile carpet, oak sideboards, crystal decanters and low level tables. If you liked the more mature atmosphere of Archer Street (before it was discovered by the masses), you’ll love spending time here, eating and drinking until the late hours.

We started with champagne cocktails made with cognac and sugar cubes and were recommended to order 12 small food plates to share. We didn’t quite make it that far but most guests typically order as they go, supplementing their dinner with bowls of triple cooked chips, and kale and burnt apple salad: the former both fluffy and crispy, the latter light and tangy.

The scallops, presented in shells, were

Lamb Sweetbread Salad

light and sweet, arriving with courgette and lime, while the confit smoked guinea fowl was rich and delicious with an anchovy mayo. By the time we got to the succulent rump of lamb with fennel and mint, it became obvious that the art was in the quality of the ingredients, and we were already talking about when to return.

We debated whether a New Year fitness regime allowed flourless chocolate cake as we tucked in, but the whole evening felt indulgent and worth it – like a treat should.

It’s rare to find a new restaurant that has so much warmth and character and Old Tom & English is already proving so popular that its team are debating whether to open during lunchtimes too – but I think that would be a shame. There’s something romantic and exclusive about it only being an evening affair, and I hope it keeps its charm – and its excellent chef Fabien Spagnolo. n

187B Wardour Street, W1F 020 7287 7347 oldtomandenglish.com

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All photography by Yuki Sugiura

food&drink

there’s no taste like home As James Martin releases his latest book, Home Comforts, he talks to Kari Colmans about autocue slip ups and surprising breakfast staples

I

t’s hard not to feel like you already know a man with whom you’ve shared Saturday morning breakfasts, while poring over The Times, for more than a decade. But while I’ve been deciding between scrambled eggs and avocado or mashed banana on toast – and whether or not having three cups of tea before midday is excessive – James Martin’s been opting for the very cheffie pairing of Red Bull and Twix. “That’s all I ask for in my dressing room,” he says. “Other people come up with all sorts of lists but I don’t have any requests before filming apart from eye drops, a Red Bull and a Twix.

You know it’s bad when you’re going into work and there are people queuing to get into nightclubs. It’s just a stupid o’clock time. But everyone’s all ‘give him a can and kick him out on set’.”

I’m talking to the born-and-bred Yorkshireman ahead of a second BBC series of Home Comforts and the official tie-in book, but most people will know him from Saturday Kitchen, a food centred talk-show that has seen Martin juggling hot sauces and prickly celebs for the past 13 years. “It’s multi-tasking – all women can do it can’t they?” he laughs, and I’m relieved to find he’s as nice in real life as he is on the oosh bang telly. “You gain so much experience but it never gets any easier and so I never take it for granted. Every Saturday I still try as hard as I did the first time. You’ve got people shouting in your ear telling you how long you’ve got left, but the hard part is the autocue because I’m dyslexic. You’re cooking while interviewing but you’ve also got somebody yapping in your ear.” One of the funniest faux pas saw Martin “giving Rick Stein a great compliment” when he fluffed the last two consonants of the word “dish” to utter something rather rambunctious for a pre-watershed audience (the clip has currently pulled in more than 22,000 views on YouTube). “When you

meet an A-lister you are always a bit scared but they are the ones who really get into it,” he says. “In recent times I was nervous with Michael Parkinson – he was pretty amazing. He is just a fantastic guy. I would love to have someone like David Attenborough on – he’s just a great character.” But such is the nature of live TV that the gaffes aren’t limited to getting tonguetied. “I think a big mistake that we once made was when we had birdwatcher and ornithologist Bill Oddie on the show. I presented him with a plate of mallard.

Nobody realised through rehearsals all week but the penny dropped live on air that it probably wasn’t the greatest thing to do. Everyone else found it hilarious but he didn’t see the funny side.”

Martin has been surrounded by food for as long as he can remember. He started by working on his parents’ pig farm but at eight years old he was taken to his first ever restaurant kitchen and “fell in love”. He managed to work in “several really good Michelin-star restaurants” before he was 16 and then he had to choose between being a chef or going back to the farm to bring home the bacon. “It was bloody hard work our pig farm, so I chose the route that was slightly warmer rather than the one outdoors. But I think working on a farm, you gain respect for other people who make the food and that same ethos still applies [for me] now.” His first TV appearance came in the mid-1990s when he became a household chef name with his own show, championing local northern fare, as well as through Ready Steady Cook and The Big Breakfast: “It’s all a bit of a blur.” But ‘celebrity chef’ was never the end goal, he says, and I believe him – “It found me, I didn’t find it.” He’s been around long enough to laugh at the fads and to know that essentially, what we all want is a simple home-cooked meal.

“Nouvelle cuisine was always quite a funny one,” he sighs. “I remember working in one restaurant

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where we put four strawberries on the plate, covered one in gold leaf and charged 32 quid for it. How can anybody get away with charging 30 odd quid for four strawberries – bloody hell. We spent an hour painting that strawberry with gold leaf – what a pain in the arse.

“I’m not really into the molecular sort of stuff either which is the way food was going for a while, but now it’s come back round to the simple form of cooking which is always key. There is only one person that can really do [molecular gastronomy] in the UK

“I don’t really do detox to be honest – I’m 6ft 3in, I’m never going to be 10 stone – it’s never going to happen! ” and that is Heston and we should leave him to it.”

Martin’s go-to ingredients for the ideal home-cooked meal are lamb chops and roast chicken, but when he’s really taking a step back, there’s only one place you’ll find him. “I’m getting older so I’ve got to have a nice chair to sit on. I invested in a proper big leather one. That’s my space when the dogs don’t nick it, but they like it as much as what I do, so you’ve got to kick them off. It’s Ralph Lauren, the sort you sit in rather than on.”

Photography by Yuki Sugiura

For dinner parties, he’d recommend something like beef stew and dumplings, which you can stick in the oven and forget about. “Too many people try and invent things and end up in a bloody disaster because they are trying to do two things at once. You can do lamb particularly well at this time of year, it’s so inexpensive, especially this amazing thing called hogget – it’s from a year old lamb, in-between a lamb and a mutton really.”

True to form, I see him serve up some hogget to an impressed Pixie Lott the following morning, although she was careful not to finish it as the spandex brigade was still a-calling that night.

While Martin’s life revolves around eating – and feeding others – he says there won’t be any January detoxes in his household. “I don’t really do detox to be honest – I’m 6ft 3in, I’m never going to be ten stone – it’s never going to happen! I think the thinnest I have ever been is when I did Strictly Come Dancing and I lost something like five stone. I probably needed to lose it, but I’m never going to be a ballet dancer, put it that way.

I suppose the older you are the more you look at what you eat which is fair enough – I do drink a lot of water, about three or four litres a day, but I’m too old to be farting around with all that [diet stuff]. I’ve got a gym at home but I haven’t really used it much. However, I got one of those pedometer things from a magazine the other day and it showed that I had walked 15 miles yesterday, just in the restaurant.”

And when he’s not running marathons around the hob, Martin loves to travel, guided by his tastebuds.

“One of my favourite places is probably America.

I went on a foodie trip to New York recently and had a fantastic time seeing the amazing restaurants. The service in America is often so good because it’s a service culture. I don’t like this tipping sort of scenario, but in terms of restaurant design and other stuff, America’s quite forward thinking. But I also think people can learn a lot of stuff from us in the UK. “As a country we’ve got amazing respect for food.

You’ve got to go back to when your granny was brought up and there was a much higher regard for simple produce. They never wasted anything. The issue we have now is that stuff is readily available all year round and we are wasteful. We just throw stuff away willy-nilly. Yes, we are more knowledgeable than we were and the restaurants have got miles better, but we take food for granted a lot more than we used to and a lot more than we should.”

Although home is now in Hampshire, Martin spends enough time in London to know its foodie hangouts like the back of his hand, choosing the likes of Brasserie Chavot, Koffmann’s and La Petite Maison for a good meal. “If you want really good burgers and charcuterie then go to Bar Boulud, for a good steak you’ve got to go to Cut, and for fish go to Bentley’s.”

And for a breakfast to see you through til tea, you can’t beat a good old-fashioned vending machine. n

James Martin: Home Comforts returns to BBC TWO in January. Home Comforts by James Martin, £20, Quadrille, is out now

food&drink

BRITISH SEASIDE CHOWDER WITH SAFFRON Serves 4 Whenever I visit the seaside I’m a sucker for cockles and whelks. This is such a quick and simple soup when you have the seafood to hand. Use whatever local shellfish you can get your hands on as long as you stick to the same amounts, but this is a good traditional version.

1. First, skin and deseed the tomatoes: bring a saucepan of water to the boil, take out the stalk of the tomatoes and make crosses on the bases.

2. Drop the tomatoes into the water and simmer for 10–15 seconds until the skin starts to peel away. Lift straight out, put into a bowl of iced water and peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds, then finely chop the flesh.

 ingredients  • 2 red chillies, 1 chopped, 1 finely sliced • 4 garlic cloves, crushed • 90g root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped • 2 tbsp palm sugar • 6 tbsp soy sauce • 4 tbsp fish sauce • 300g cooked lamb, cut into thick slices, with the fat left on • ½ cucumber, halved lengthways, sliced thinly on the diagonal

• 100g fresh podded peas, some in the pods if really fresh • 100g sugar snap peas, sliced lengthways • 75g beansprouts • 6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal • 3 tbsp roughly chopped mint leaves • Small handful of coriander sprigs • Juice of 2 limes • 25g pea shoots

THAI LAMB SALAD WITH SPICY DRESSING Serves 4 I love this dish. Frying the cold lamb until crisp on the edges gives it a great texture, then adding the brilliant dressing means you get masses of flavours in. You really need all the dressing ingredients; sadly, it won’t work with normal sugar or without the fish sauce. It doesn’t need poncing around, just whack it on the plate and put it on the table. Simple. This is one of the dishes I do all the time at home.

1. Place the chopped chilli, garlic, ginger and palm sugar into a food processor or pestle and mortar and blitz or grind to a fine paste. Add the soy and fish sauce then blitz once more. Taste and adjust if necessary.

2. Heat a frying pan until hot, add the lamb and fry for 2-3 minutes until crispy on one side. Add half the dressing and heat through until sticky and it’s coating the lamb nicely, then remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Heat a sauté pan until hot, add the wine and the shellfish, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes until just cooked through. Strain into a colander over a bowl, reserving the cooking liquor, and allow to cool slightly before picking the meat out of the shells.

4. Wipe out the sauté pan, then add the butter, shallot and garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the fennel, leek, potatoes, saffron and star anise and cook for another minute.

5. Add the reserved cooking liquor and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until the potatoes are just tender.

6. Add the cream and samphire then simmer for another couple of minutes until just thickened. Reduce the heat then add the tomatoes and all the shellfish, including the whelks, and gently warm through.

7. Add the chives and celery leaves and season to taste (you probably won’t need much salt). Serve straight away.

 ingredients  • 2 tomatoes • 300ml white wine • 1kg mixed shellfish: cockles, clams, mussels, winkles, soaked in cold water • 50g unsalted butter • 1 shallot, finely chopped • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped • 1/2 leek, white part only, finely chopped • 250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces

• Saffron • 1 star anise • 500ml chicken stock • 175ml double cream • 75g samphire, trimmed • 12 shelled cooked whelks • 2 tbsp finely chopped chives • Handful of celery leaves • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3. Place the cucumber, peas, sugar snaps, beansprouts, spring onions, mint and coriander into a bowl and toss to combine. Add some dressing and lime juice to the bowl then add the pea shoots and toss once more.

4. Divide the salad between the plates then top with the crispy lamb. Finish with more of the dressing, sprinkle on the finely sliced chilli and serve straight away.

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wish list

DESIGN INTERVENTION The lack of truly top-tier hotels in Tel Aviv has always seemed strange – so much so that talk of opening a five-star boutique lodging was becoming a Friday night conversation cornerstone.

Converted from two historic buildings in the heart of the city’s UNESCO heritage site, The Norman has finally opened its elegant doors. Comprising 30 bedrooms and 20 suites, including two penthouse suites, with interior design by David d’Almada, of London’s The Arts Club fame. While the brasserie serves Mediterranean cuisine throughout the day, we’re most excited about Dinings, the second outpost of our favourite Marylebone-based Japanese tapas restaurant. A 24-hour concierge team will also be on hand to book hot air balloon and vineyard tours. Mazel Tov.

thenorman.com

© Sivan Aksayo

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TRAVEL in style HOT SPOT

in January

SINGAPORE Celebrating its Golden Jubilee, Singapore is entering its most exciting year to date This year marks half a century since Singapore gained independence. Welcoming in the New Year and kicking off its Golden Jubilee celebrations is the annual Marina Bay Singapore Countdown, which promises an exciting evening with fireworks, music and a lively crowd. The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vibrant history and culture will continue to be honoured throughout the year, with new launches like the National Gallery, which hopes to become an international arts hub.

We recommend staying at the recently opened Sofitel So Singapore, found only minutes from the buzzing Marina Bay area. Housed within a heritage building built in 1928, the hotel features high ceilings, original artworks and views of the city from its goldentiled rooftop pool. Alternatively, keep your eyes peeled for other new openings in 2015. The Patina, Capitol Singapore will boast a relaxation pool and a library club lounge while Park Hotel Alexandra, due to open in the summer, will be connected to a three-storey mall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we advise packing light.

sofitel.com

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winter SLEEP winners BOOSTERS

scandi chic Marking its 25th anniversary this winter, the Icehotel in Swedish Lapland is introducing its first wellbeing escape, courtesy of Discover the World. The three-night package will incorporate guided running trails and cross-country skiing, as well as the chance to catch the northern lights on horseback, and undertake more relaxing experiences like a trip to a traditional Scandinavian spa.

Four departure dates are available between January and March 2015.

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SHORT HAUL

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Vantage says relax The new Deep Sleep and Relax Retreat at Aguas de Ibiza encompasses aspects of nutrition, exercise and wellbeing to encourage rest. Therapies include NSA (Network Spinal Analysis), a chiropractic approach that uses gentle touch to release spinal tension. Each programme is bespoke to an individual’s lifestyle and areas of concern.

From £1,285 per person discover-the-world.co.uk

From £1,945 per person thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk

a special edition The Seville Hotel has undergone renovation under the direction of American hotelier Ian Schrager and the Marriott International brand.

While its view of the Atlantic from the lobby and its white Carrera marble floors have been preserved, the hotel is now described as a ‘next-generation’ resort with a bowling alley, ice-skating rink and its own club decked out with a bar and DJ booth. For a more relaxing experience, the hidden alcoves in the hotel’s gardens offer hammocks and lounge seating overlooking a private Miami beachfront.

From $429 (approx. £274) per night editionhotels.com

j’adore Award-winning hotel group La Réserve opens a new hotel and spa in Paris this month. Just a few steps from the ChampsElysées, guests will enjoy its classic and selfie-inducing views of the Elysées Gardens, Le Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower. Designed by French architect Jacques Garcia, the hotel has adopted the style of an early 19th century private apartment: set within a mansion, it has 40 rooms and suites, a library, gym, spa and indoor pool.

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LONG HAUL

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Mind, body and soul Found in a calm remote setting on the Thai island Koh Samui – and centred around a small cave where Buddhist monks used to meditate – is the holistic wellness resort Kamalaya. The new sleep enhancement programme offers specialist lifestyle consultations, body bio-impedance analysis, herbal and nutrient remedies, acupuncture and Royal Ayuvedic massage in a beautiful setting. Also available are yoga sessions, sound therapy and visits from spiritual gurus.

From £3,320 per person kamalaya.com

From €1,300 (approx. £1,028) per night lareserve-paris.com

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Arabian Nights Instead of making New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resolutions, start 2015 with a trip to inspire in Marrakech, writes Francesca Lee

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s the setting for Poppy Delevingne’s wedding and the rumoured destination of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin’s mini-moon, I was keen to discover why Marrakech – also known as the Red City – has not only become a hgh profile wedding and honeymoon hotspot, but a travel mecca. Being a fitness fanatic, what better way to give myself a kick back into shape (quite literally) than taking part in a Champion Spirit Retreat taught by world champion Thai boxer Abdoulaye Fadiga?

After a 30-minute journey in a chauffeur-driven Land Rover through a vast and dusty terracotta desert, I arrived at the marble-fronted loggia of the five-star Palais Namaskar hotel. What an entrance it was: lanterns lit the water-lined walkways, pink bougainvillea vines draped the colonnades and the luscious greenery of the hotel’s 12-acre Balinese-inspired gardens even put Yorkshire’s finest countryside to shame.

My home for the next few days was once a favourite suite of Mick Jagger’s: the spacious four-bedroom Water Palace, complete with paparazzi-proof private pool, butler service and views of the nearby Atlas Mountains.

Princess Jasmine would be proud.

First up on the programme was Wild Soul Training (think Parkour holistic training). Although I’m a keen follower of fitness trends, I’d never heard of this type of exercise before. Expert William Belle flew in from France to teach the class, arriving in style at his demonstration by leaping and pouncing off dome-shaped buildings.

He must be a cat reincarnated, I thought to myself; what if they were made of glass, or even worse, what if he slipped?

I worried until my attention quickly turned to the class ahead: am I supposed to do that?! Luckily, my lesson was much more low key; Belle went back to basics and showed me how to use all my limbs to travel across the floor in a variety of ways that I never thought possible (imagine moving eight metres in a Twister-style position). To passersby it might have looked odd, but it was intense, awakened dormant muscles and tested my body strength to the limit. If you can get over how you must look when doing the moves, it’s an all-over workout at its best.

Next on the agenda was aerobics, followed by Thai boxing. The first, complete with star jumps, squats and a loud instructor to boot, rather reminded me of the 90s – Mr Motivator, anyone? But the latter was where the fitness programme really came into its own.

Although I have tried and tested a variety of unusual classes, including aerial yoga, freestyle fitness and belly dancing, I have never boxed, let alone Thai boxed.

What have I been missing? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Fadiga talked me through his well-honed technique,

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and with every blow, punch, hook, jab and kick I felt all tension leave my body. Not only is Thai boxing high-intensity cardio, but it’s good for stress relief too.

If you’re after an extra thrill, adventure seekers can enjoy a number of activities outside of Palais Namaskar, including mountain biking, which I was keen to try. Led by a fitness instructor from the hotel’s state-of-the-art gym (which includes TechnoGym equipment), there’s a variety of trails tailored to different abilities. I opted for the more challenging route, cycling off-road along Saharan-swept paths, down dusty descents, traversing dried-out ravines, up steep climbs and passing through Berber villages along the way. It’s a surefire way to get the adrenaline pumping, along with quad biking, horse riding and climbing, which can also be incorporated into the programme.

Being a foodie, I couldn’t wait to dine in the hotel’s two restaurants, especially after a hard day burning calories. Le Namaskar serves French cuisine and is headed up by chef Antoine Perray who trained under world-renowned Alain Ducasse, while Le Sawadee is a Thai restaurant under chef Kiewsri Sasitorn’s wing. Featuring rich-coloured fabrics, Murano glass chandeliers and feature fireplaces, both eateries are grand and atmospheric. Guests who are on the fitness programme can opt for the Earth and Health dishes, which have been specifically designed with the five-day regime in mind, or you can choose options from the main menu; some of those I devoured included a tasty butcher’s cut of roast beef served with Provençal-style mashed potatoes and stir-fried squid stuffed with minced chicken, ginger and vegetables. Post-meal, the roof terrace’s No Mad cocktail bar serves a range of concoctions, and guests with any energy left (I certainly hadn’t) can expend it by dancing the night away to resident DJ Christo Z. Although reluctant to swap the sunny climes of Morocco for grey London, I came away with a renewed energy for getting fit with a much-needed boost of sunshineinduced vitamin D. If only I could have taken the Oetker Collection’s (the luxury chain that includes Palais Namaskar in its portfolio) private jet on to Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc or Le Bristol. Well, there’s always next year… n

 NEED TO KNOW  The five-day Performance Programme starts from €3,880 for all fitness activities overseen by Abdoulaye Fadiga and the Champion Spirit Club team and includes five nights’ accommodation in a deluxe room on a full-board basis and a personalised diet programme, yoga and massages at Spa Le Namaskar.

See all major airlines for flights to Marrakech (palaisnamaskar.com)

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where time stands still Francesca Lee discovers an off-the-track treasure in Switzerland’s Ascona

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Images © Switzerland Tourism

here’s something quite nostalgic about a long train journey. Well-known, farflung trips include the glamorous Orient Express as captured by Agatha Christie, or a crossing on the Trans-Siberian, which links Europe to the Pacific Ocean. These voyages are as much about the enjoyment and romance of travelling by train as they are about reaching a specific destination. Whether passing through luscious greenery, snow-topped mountains or over expansive lakes, miles upon miles of glorious unspoiled scenery can be admired through a pane of glass. And I have to admit, I am one of those people whose jaw tends to drop. This was certainly the experience I had when travelling from Zurich in the north-centre of Switzerland to Locarno, which is situated close to the Italian border. Travelling in first class, the steep, soaring, rocky hillside made me feel insignificant in comparison; I was a very small speck in these vast valleys.

An eerie mist descended adding further drama, atmosphere and intrigue to what were already stunning surroundings.

Arriving at Locarno four-and-a-half hours later, I was surprised by how quickly the journey had passed, but I couldn’t wait to discover more about Ticino, the southernmost tip of Switzerland known for its sunny climes, and get some much-needed R&R at the five-star Hotel Eden Roc. My home-from-home for the next few days was just a 10-minute drive from the station in one of the hotel’s chauffeur-driven cars. Perched on the shores of Lake Maggiore, the setting had unrivalled views of one of the largest expanses of water in southern Switzerland, as well as its own marina, private beach and greenerthan-green garden. The latter was quite a surprise, given that my visit was in early autumn. Inside, artwork hung from the walls and bright furniture added pops of colour to the décor. My south-facing suite had direct lake views, two bathrooms and a bed so big I immediately knew it would be a struggle to get out of it in the morning (I was right). The room was decorated in bright orange, and although at times it felt like it had been Tangoed, overall it had an uplifting, Mediterranean feel.

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Every Saturday morning stallholders line the quaint cobbled paths selling local produce including breads, cheeses and meats During my stay I dined in three of the hotel’s four restaurants. The Marina Restaurant was modern with sleek white tables and chairs, while the floor-to-ceiling windows framed the picture-postcard view; an idyllic spot to enjoy a three-course light lunch. The Eden Roc Restaurant was more formal complete with an à la carte menu and a pianist. La Brezza was my favourite – I ate every morsel from the eight-course tasting menu, which included smoked salmon infused with hay, beef carpaccio with Provençal vegetables, and a deconstructed apple crumble with ice cream. The finale came in the form of a trolley of treats and I sampled everything from nougat to chocolate: heaven for my sweet tooth.

To find out more about the local food, I headed to Bellinzona market. Held every Saturday morning, stallholders line the quaint cobbled paths selling local produce including breads, cheeses and meats.

What I imagined on weekdays and Sundays would be quite sleepy streets were actually bustling with locals and tourists alike. A trip to the town was complete after visiting Bellinzona Castles, a UNESCO

World Heritage Site. Walking around one of the three castles’ fortified walls, my guide from the Ticino tourist board helped me envisage what it would have been like hundreds of years ago and talked me through the on-site museum, which displays artefacts that have been discovered in the grounds. More interesting stories followed over lunch in the castle’s medieval underground restaurant, Grotto Castelgrande – a go-to eatery for any visitor.

Back in Ascona, I reflected on my short but sweet trip, taking a walk to the piazza where I people-watched while enjoying an Italian coffee al fresco and listening to a group of local musicians playing by the water’s edge.

I had only been away from London for two nights, yet it made me appreciate the slower pace of life here. Maybe I need to take a plane and a train more often to get away from the typical tourist trail; after all, there are many more places yet to discover… n

 NEED TO KNOW  Hotel Eden Roc has double rooms from 350CHF (approx £229) per night, per person based on two people sharing, edenroc.ch SWISS offers up to 86 weekly flights from London Heathrow and London City airports to Zurich, as well as from London Gatwick during the winter season.

Fares start from £65 one way, swiss.com The Swiss Travel System provides a range of travel passes and tickets exclusively for visitors from abroad.

The Swiss Transfer Ticket covers a round-trip between the airport/Swiss border and your destination.

Prices are £92 for second class and £148 for first class, swisstravelsystem.co.uk

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Sugar

spice

Lauren Romano adjusts her body clock to Caribbean time at St Luciaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sugar Beach

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t all started with a rum punch. And then another.

After a blissful four days at the opulent Sugar Beach in St Lucia, all concept of time has been lulled to a standstill. Built on the site of an 18thcentury sugar plantation, the sprawling resort is nestled between the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Pitons that soar dramatically from a secluded private beach where a turquoise ribbon of ocean laps gently against the shore, undulating for as far as the eye can see.

As views go, the panorama that greets me is as intoxicating as the nutmeg-laced tipple that is thrust into my hand on arrival. As I take it all in, a member of staff lightly places a lavender-scented towel around my neck before we begin our steady climb in the back of a tuk-tuk to my villa. Gleaming white shapes soon rise

Moses appears to possess telepathic abilities, pre-empting my itinerary and summoning transportation into view, sitting like sugar cubes in clusters of Jurassic topiary, which engulfs the sleeping quarters into a jungle of tendrils and wide-leaved palms.

I am shown to my home from home for the next three nights by my own butler, who can be reached at the touch of a firefly (a sort of dial-a-butler hotline) to help me unpack, organise the shuttles to ferry me from the hilltop to the main buildings below, sort out dinner reservations or attend to any other requests.

The lovely Moses appears to possess telepathic abilities, pre-empting my itinerary and summoning transportation before I have even had a chance to ring.

Inside, my bungalow is a pristine temple to the colour white, and the crowning glory is a four poster bed that floats so high off the ground that I have to stand on tiptoe to clamber in. Its cocoon-like embrace swallows me up in such inviting folds of cotton and

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feathers that my attempt at a quick power nap inevitably exceeds its five-minute slot. Three hours later, refreshed and ready to face the world, I open the French doors in the living room onto a terrace, sun deck and plunge pool. Beautifully framed by vibrant red blossom, it is the perfect spot for catching the blink-and-it’s-gone sunset.

As darkness descends, the chattering of tree frogs and whizzing insects is the soundtrack for drinks at the Bayside Bar on the water’s edge. Tempting though it might be to sip the night away to this Caribbean cacophony, delicious wafts from the hotel’s numerous eateries lure me inside. From the laid-back Bayside Restaurant, where we dine on delicious ceviche and octopus tostada by day and a barbecue buffet by night, to the elegance and colonial charm of the Great Room and its delectable five-course tasting menu, there are a

Whether you’re usually a keen hiker or not, lace up your trainers, spritz yourself with insect repellent and head to the navigation centre, located at the foot of Gros Piton. Two local guides navigate small groups up the rocky terrain, clambering over craggy giants’ staircases and knotted boughs of old mango trees. It’s not a leisurely stroll; ten minutes in and I’m reacquainted with every muscle in my body, and 30 minutes later I am drenched with sweat. After four hours my movements resemble a sloth on sleeping pills, with limbs flaying about like a marionette puppet.

To make matters worse, the heavens open halfway up to the summit and a deluge of tropical rain begins to pelt down in lukewarm daggers (the “real rainforest experience”, our guides laugh). Stretching out to reach my final foothold, and heaving myself onto a boulder,

I am jolted awake by the sunrays dancing on my pillow ahead of my final day in paradise range of options to suit all appetites. We get our first evening off to a memorable start at one of the resort’s candle-lit cabanas where I work my way through as much grilled swordfish with fennel and watermelon salad as I can before the jet-lag kicks in.

Those looking for a culinary adventure can book a place on the hotel’s farm-to-table tour. Overseen by head chef Jacques Chretien and his team, the experience enables guests to visit many of the small suppliers who provide the kitchens with everything from organic greens, pineapples and mangoes to the catch of the day from the bustling fish market in Soufrière. Back at Sugar Beach, you are invited into the kitchen to help the chefs prepare lunch.

My fellow diners and I roll up our sleeves to tackle a pineapple gazpacho, tuna sashimi and a mango soufflé.

No matter how good, the view can’t be topped by any culinary experience: wherever you turn at Sugar Beach, the twin peaks of the Pitons are never far away.

Standing a statuesque 2,619ft above sea level, the Gros Piton and its sibling (the misleadingly named nearsheer Petit Piton) don’t look real. Looking up from the resort I feel dwarfed by their magnitude, and the serene mountains look Blu-Tacked onto the azure backdrop.

however, I emerge from the canopy of vegetation feeling triumphant. Thick wisps of low-hanging mist obscure everything for a few tense minutes, until suddenly, the entire bay below swims into view, its leagues of ocean stretching out to the horizon.

Exhausted but elated, I arrive back at the hotel with aching muscles and am whisked straight to the resort’s Rainforest Spa – an elevated warren of treehouses perched on stilts. With more geckos than people scurrying around, no setting could be more conducive to relaxation. In my wooden cabin I get the full works, starting with a revitalising Natura Bisse C+C Vitamin Body Polisher.

A tangy, citrus scrub is swept over my skin in brisk motions before I rinse it off under an invigorating outdoor shower, surrounded by a screen of trees.

My therapist then attends to the knots in my back with a signature Lava Shell Massage. As the soothing seashells are worked over my pressure points, releasing tension, I drift off to the trickle of raindrops working their way helter-skelter down the canopy of leaves just beyond the window.

The following day I am jolted awake by the sunrays dancing on my pillow ahead of my final day in paradise. On the agenda is a breakfast time sail on the majestic Manatee yacht. Sugar Beach’s general manager André Boersma is the captain for the day, navigating us around the edges of the island and out into the wide blue yonder. The sails billow in the breeze as we ride the crests of the foaming Caribbean Sea and feast on locally grown mangoes on board. In the backdrop, Sugar Beach is a picture-perfect composition of palm trees, blinding white sands and sun loungers.

As the morning wears on, the sun climbs to its lofty, lethargic perch high above the mast, casting everything in a golden glow that lingers long into the afternoon. I don’t want to leave – but then again, clockwatching is not a common trait here I realise as we bob along happily, drinking in the scenery. If only real life had a pause button. n

t r av e l

 NEED TO KNOW  Rooms at Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort start at £258 for a Luxury Sugar Mill Room, based on double occupancy and excluding tax and service, viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/sugarbeach. Virgin Atlantic flies twice a week to St Lucia from London Gatwick. Economy fares start from £322 plus £329.84 taxes. For more information, call 0344 209 7770 or visit virgin-atlantic.com

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Property Listings See below for estate agents in your area

Arlington Residential 8 Wellington Road NW8 9SP 020 7722 3322 arlingtonresidential.co.uk

Hanover Residential 102 St John’s Wood Terrace NW8 6PL 020 7722 2223 31a Thayer Street Marylebone W1U 2QS 020 3540 5990 hanover-residential.com

Aston Chase 69 / 71 Park Road NW1 6XU 020 7724 4724 astonchase.com

Laurence Leigh 020 7483 0101 laurenceleigh.com

Marsh & Parsons 35 Maida Vale W9 1TP 020 7368 4458 marshandparsons.co.uk

Savills 7 Perrin’s Court NW3 1QS 020 7472 5000 15 St John’s Wood High Street NW8 7NG 020 3043 3600 savills.co.uk

savills.co.uk ian green residential 28 De Walden House Allitsen Road, NW8 020 7586 1000 iangreenresidential.com

Globe Apartments 45 Chiltern Street London W1U 6LU 020 7034 3430 globeapt.com

Knight Frank 5-7 Wellington Place NW8 7PB 020 7586 2777 79-81 Heath Street NW3 6UG 020 7431 8686

Hamptons International 99 St John’s Wood Terrace NW8 6PL 020 7717 5319

55 Baker Street W1U 8EW 020 3435 6440 knightfrank.co.uk

Parkheath 208 Haverstock Hill NW3 2AG 020 7431 1234

TK International 16-20 Heath Street NW3 6TE 020 7794 8700 t-k.co.uk

8a Canfield Gardens NW6 3BS 020 7625 4567 192 West End Lane NW6 1SG 020 7794 7111 148 Kentish Town Road NW1 9QB 020 7485 0400 parkheath.com

21 Heath street NW3 6TR 020 7717 5301 hamptons.co.uk

RUNWILD MEDIA GROUP

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If you would like to appear within the property pages of VANTAGE, contact Felicity Morgan-Harvey, property manager, on 020 7987 4320 or f.morgan-harvey@runwildgroup.co.uk

Vantage P R O P E RT Y

showcasing the

finest HOMES & PROPERTY from the best estate agents

Elegant & exclusive The latest prime properties

Image courtesy of Park Heath

KnightFrank.co.uk

Tatham Place, St John's Wood NW8 Rarely available house in a secure gated development

In the heart of St John's Wood is this fantastic bright family home with porterage and two underground parking spaces. 4 bedrooms ﴾all en suite﴿, double reception room, kitchen/dining room, sitting room, 2 guest WC's, self contained studio flat/bedroom 5, roof terrace/patio. EPC rating D. Approximately 337 sq m ﴾3,623 sq ft﴿

KnightFrank.co.uk/st‐johns‐wood stjohnswood@knightfrank.com 020 7586 2777

Guide price: £5,850,000 ﴾SJW070422﴿

5 Tatham Place - Vantage Jan 2015 -v2

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KnightFrank.co.uk

Randolph Road, Little Venice W9

Low built five bedroom detached house with mews 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, drawing room/dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, 2 guest WC's, cinema room, leisure facilities, gym, garden, terrace, private parking. Mews house including 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, sitting room, kitchen, guest WC & garden. Approximately 699 sq m ﴾7,526 sq ft﴿ Freehold

KnightFrank.co.uk/st‐johns‐wood stjohnswood@knightfrank.com 020 7586 2777

Guide price: £17,950,000 ﴾SJW140130﴿

Red Brick House - Vantage Jan 2015 -v3

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SALES | LETTINGS | NEW HOMES

6 9 – 7 1 PA R K R O A D | L O N D O N | N W 1 6 X U | T + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 7 7 2 4 4 724 | A S T O NC H A S E .C OM

DEVOTED, DEpENDAbLE, DOGGEDLy DETErMINED

The gentle bloodhound is loyal and hard-working with a keen sense of smell. Just like the bloodhound, the sales team at Aston Chase is single-minded in the pursuit of achieving a successful transaction for each and every client. As the central London property market becomes less predictable, we think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find that dependability counts for a great deal.

LANCASTER GROVE BELSIZE PARK NW3 FREEHOLD ÂŁ2,975,000 JOINT SOLE AGENT

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A contemporary four bedroom townhouse (198sq m/2,137sq ft) that occupies an enviable position in this sought after street in the heart of Belsize Park. The house is in excellent condition, having been recently extensively refurbished and benefits from well-planned accommodation that maximises light and volume. The house further benefits from a south facing patio garden, roof terrace and secure garaged parking for two/three cars.

ACCOMMODATION AND AMENITIES Principal bedroom with en-suite dressing room & bathroom, 2 further bedrooms (1 with en-suite bathroom), bedroom 4/ media room, Schiffini-Cinqueterre kitchen with natural anodised aluminium finish, Miele appliances, living/dining room, study, family shower room, guest cloakroom, patio garden, roof terrace, Juliet balcony, secure garage parking for 2/3 cars, underfloor heating, comfort cooling, video phone entry, integrated audio systems, CCTV front and back, integral exterior lighting. EPC=C.

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PENTHOUSE, THE YOO BUILDING ST JOHN’S WOOD NW8 LEASEHOLD £2,250,000 PRINCIPAL AGENT

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6 9 –7 1 PA R K R O A D LO N D O N N W 1 6 X U 0 2 0 7 7 24 4 7 24

A spectacular newly refurbished penthouse apartment (181sq m/1,952sq ft) set on the 5th and 6th floors of this landmark Philippe Starck designed building. Comprehensively refurbished to a highly contemporary and exacting standard throughout by the current owner, the apartment further benefits from secure off street parking and a 24 hour concierge service.

ACCOMMODATION AND AMENITIES Principal bedroom with en-suite bathroom, bedroom 2 with en-suite shower room, open plan reception room, dining room and fully fitted Boffi kitchen, guest cloakroom, Sonos sound system, balcony, 24 hour concierge, secure off street parking for 1 car. EPC=C.

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The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

Drawing of St Dunstan-in-the-West by SPAB Scholar Ptolomy Dean

Founded by William Morris, the SPAB protects the historic environment from decay, damage and demolition. It responds to threats to old buildings, trains building professionals, craftspeople, homeowners and volunteers and gives advice about maintenance and repairs. Since 1877 countless buildings have been saved for future generations.

Information about maintaining your home is available through events, courses, lectures, publications and telephone advice.

To support our work why not join the SPAB? Members receive a quarterly magazine, our list of historic properties for sale and access to our regional activities.

www.spab.org.uk 020 7377 1644 A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales. Company no: 5743962 Charity no: 1113753 37 Spital Square, London E1 6DY

property

Forward thinking London’s property market seems to have calmed as we go into 2015 writes Tom Gladwin, managing director of Parkheath

L

ondon’s property market has endured a turbulent year but the tides of change have failed to dampen prices and may bring a much needed calm and sustainable pace to 2015. Despite the usual General Election jitters, followed by interest rate rises and stamp duty changes, the capital has held strong, but the heat has definitely been taken out of the market, which signals quite a contrast with the beginning of this year.

2014 kicked off at a furious pace. Buyer’s confidence was riding high, demand was outstripping supply and prices were continuing to rise. Worries over rises in interest rates had dissipated and the economic outlook was improving.

Next year should mark continued confidence and stability for the London property market But as we enjoyed the glorious summer weather, a storm was brewing. Clouds of uncertainty gathered with press headlines on Labour’s mansion tax, changes in mortgage affordability calculations, speculation on interest rate rises along with the realisation that a General Election was looming. The national average house price also slowed for a couple of months in a row and reports of property market crashes hit the headlines once again.

Despite these ‘bad news’ headlines, the market in north west London once again showed its resilience.

A renewed calm was evident while demand remained solid, and buyers were buying. And then, just when everything seemed back to normal, stamp duty was

changed in the Autumn Statement. The new graduated stamp duty tariff will help the lower end of the market by reducing the cost of purchases below £937,500.

More than 50 per cent of prime London property is valued at more than £1m, so a significant number of buyers will end up paying more. But the market should quickly absorb these costs.

Despite the uncertainty that 2015 brings, next year should mark continued confidence and stability for the London property market. London will continue to deliver unparalleled property returns and capital growth, ensuring demand remains high. More and more investors are expected to buy in London next year, boosting the already buoyant rental market, which continues to go from strength to strength.

Those waiting on the General Election will begin to return to the market, competition should remain less fierce and a calmer trading climate plus more choice on the market should ensure a strong and healthier market for everyone.

After the successful launch of our new Kentish Town office this year Parkheath will also be showing our confidence in the market by opening another new office in north west London. From everyone at Parkheath, we wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. n

parkheath.com

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Sold on the Street www www .parkheath.com .parkheath.com

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Wedderburn Road NW3 £1,800,000

Within a grand detached period property on a tree-lined Hampstead road, a large ground floor garden apartment in need of some updating but with the potential to create a stunning living space.

1,666 sq ft/154 sq m 20’ reception, 20’ conservatory 3 double bedrooms Private 62’ tiered garden Share of freehold Contact Belsize Park Office 020 7431 1234

South Hampstead 020 7625 4567 nw6@parkheath.com

Belsize Park 020 7431 1234 nw3@parkheath.com

West Hampstead 020 7794 7111 192@parkheath.com

Kentish Town 020 7485 0400 kt@parkheath.com

Property Management 020 7722 6777 pm@parkheath.com

Head Office 020 7794 7111 headoffice@parkheath.com

www.parkheath.com

Lyndhurst Gardens NW3 £1,995,000

An immaculately presented raised ground floor apartment on a sought after Hampstead road.

Ornate mouldings, wood floors and stained glass demonstrate the many original features within this handsome semi-detached red brick villa.

1,400 sq ft/130 sq m 26’ reception 23’9 master bedroom 2 further bedrooms + study Balcony and communal garden Contact Belsize Park Office 020 7431 1234

South Hampstead 020 7625 4567 nw6@parkheath.com

Belsize Park 020 7431 1234 nw3@parkheath.com

West Hampstead 020 7794 7111 192@parkheath.com

Kentish Town 020 7485 0400 kt@parkheath.com

Property Management 020 7722 6777 pm@parkheath.com

Head Office 020 7794 7111 headoffice@parkheath.com

www.parkheath.com

PRIMROSE HILL LONDON NW3 A REFURBISHED AND BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED

4 BEDROOM TOWNHOUSE OF 178 SQ M/ 1,920 SQ FT LOCATED IN THIS POPULAR DEVELOPMENT WITHIN ONE HUNDRED YARDS OF PRIMROSE HILL PARK.

4 BEDROOMS EACH WITH EN-SUITE BATHROOM/SHOWER ROOM, RECEPTION ROOM, FAMILY ROOM, KITCHEN, GUEST CLOAKROOM, PATIO LEADING TO COMMUNAL GARDEN, OFF STREET PARKING FOR 2 CARS. FREEHOLD.

£2,695,000

ST JOHN’S WOOD LONDON NW8 AN ELEGANT FIRST FLOOR FLAT WITH HIGH CEILINGS SET IN ONE OF ST JOHN’S WOOD’S MOST DESIRABLE MANSION BUILDINGS IMMEDIATELY OPPOSITE REGENT’S PARK. THE FLAT PROVIDES 168 SQ M/1,810 SQ FT. OF ACCOMMODATION. BENEFITS INCLUDE 24HR CONCIERGE SECURITY AND OFF STREET PARKING ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS.

3 BEDROOMS, 2 BATHROOMS, RECEPTION ROOM, LARGE RECEPTION HALL, KITCHEN. LEASEHOLD.

£2,650,000

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ST JOHN’S WOOD LONDON NW8 A STUNNING NEWLY REFURBISHED

3 DOUBLE BEDROOM, 2 BATHROOM APARTMENT SITUATED ON THE SECOND AND THIRD (TOP) FLOORS OF THIS ELEGANT DETACHED PERIOD HOUSE. THIS BRIGHT AND CONTEMPORARY APARTMENT HAS BEEN REFURBISHED TO AN EXCELLENT STANDARD FEATURING A FANTASTIC 26FT RECEPTION ROOM WITH OPEN PLAN LIVING, TWO SOUTH FACING BALCONIES, COMMUNAL ROOF TERRACE, COMMUNAL GARDEN, PARKING ON FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS. SHARE OF THE FREEHOLD.

£2,195,000

BELSIZE PARK LONDON NW3 A STYLISH AND BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED INTERIOR DESIGNED HOUSE OF 160 SQ M /1,716 SQ FT IN A QUIET STREET IN BELSIZE PARK WITH OFF STREET PARKING. COMPRISING LARGE RECEPTION/ DINING ROOM WITH DIRECT ACCESS TO SOUTH-WEST FACING GARDEN, WELL-APPOINTED KITCHEN, GUEST CLOAKROOM ALL ON THE GROUND FLOOR. SUBSTANTIAL PRINCIPAL BEDROOM WITH DRESSING AREA LEADING TO A LUXURY EN-SUITE BATHROOM, DIRECT ACCESS TO LARGE TERRACE AND BEDROOM/ STUDY ON THE FIRST FLOOR WITH 3 FURTHER DOUBLE BEDROOMS AND

2 EN-SUITE BATHROOMS ON THE SECOND FLOOR. FREEHOLD.

GUIDE PRICE £2,250,000

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PRIMROSE HILL LONDON NW3 LOCATED IN AN EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE GATED DEVELOPMENT AND ARRANGED OVER

3 FLOORS IS THIS WELL PRESENTED, SEMI- DETACHED MEWS HOUSE, LOCATED BETWEEN PRIMROSE HILL, BELSIZE PARK AND SWISS COTTAGE. RECEPTION ROOM, OPEN PLAN KITCHEN, 3 BEDROOMS,

2 BATHROOMS, PATIO GARDEN AND PARKING FOR 2 CARS.

£1,600 PER WEEK

PRIMROSE HILL LONDON NW3 THIS RAISED GROUND FLOOR FLAT IS LOCATED DIRECTLY OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE TO PRIMROSE HILL PARK AND OFFERS A STYLISH CONVERTED HOME THAT BLENDS A CONTEMPORARY STYLE WITH BEAUTIFUL PERIOD FEATURES. LARGE RECEPTION ROOM, KITCHEN/DINER, 2 DOUBLE BEDROOMS, 2 BATHROOMS (1 EN-SUITE), STRIPPED WOOD FLOORING.

£995 PER WEEK

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REGENT’S PARK LONDON NW8 A SENSATIONAL LATERAL PENTHOUSE APARTMENT, ARRANGED OVER 306 SQ M/

3,294 SQ FT, FEATURING BREATHTAKING VIEWS OVER REGENT’S PARK AND THE CENTRAL LONDON SKYLINE BEYOND. THE APARTMENT WAS EXTENSIVELY REMODELLED AND REFURBISHED TO AN EXCEPTIONAL STANDARD BY THE PREVIOUS OWNERS AND BENEFITS FROM 240 SQ M / 2,500 SQ FT OF TERRACING. RECEPTION ROOM, DINING AREA, STUDY, KITCHEN/ BREAKFAST ROOM, 4 BEDROOMS,

3 BATHROOMS (2 EN-SUITE), TERRACES, OFF STREET PARKING.

£5,000 PER WEEK

ST JOHN’S WOOD LONDON NW8 A RECENTLY REFURBISHED MODERN TOWN HOUSE WHICH OFFERS OPEN PLAN LIVING AREAS AND IDEAL FAMILY ACCOMMODATION SET PRIMARILY OVER 3 FLOORS.

2 RECEPTIONS, OPEN PLAN KITCHEN, 4 BEDROOMS,

3 BATHROOMS (2 EN-SUITE), GARDEN, GARDEN ROOM/STUDY.

£1,900 PER WEEK

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Hamilton Close, St John’s Wood NW8

The Yoo Building, St John’s Wood, NW8

A charming two double bedroom mews house (833 sq ft / 77 sq m) located in this quiet and secluded cobbled cul-de-sac. This fabulous property is arranged over two floors and comprises a bright 16’10 reception room with fireplace, separate kitchen, two bathrooms and integral garage.

An absolutely spectacular duplex penthouse apartment (1,952 sq ft / 181 sq m) situated on the fifth and sixth floors of this modern apartment building.

The Yoo building is centrally located and moments from Regent’s Canal, Little Venice and the amenities of Clifton Road.

£1,295,000 Leasehold

£2,250,000 Leasehold

Oak Tree House, Hampstead, NW3

London House, St John’s Wood, NW8

An exceptional three bedroom, three bathroom apartment (2,334 sq ft / 216 sq m) occupying the entire ground floor of an impressive detached Grade ll listed Victorian house. Discreetly located behind a long gated driveway in a highly sought after cul-de-sac close to Hampstead Village and Heath.

A beautifully presented four bedroom apartment (1,773 sq ft / 165 sq m), set on the sixth floor of this purpose built portered block. The apartment, which features bright and well proportioned accommodation further benefits from two balconies, underground parking and 24 hour porterage.

£2,750,000 Leasehold

£3,250,000 Share of Freehold

White Lodge Close, London, N2 A handsome detached house set behind a carriage driveway, discreetly located off one of London’s most prestigious Avenues. Willowbrook offers spacious living over two floors only, spanning some 6,840 sq.ft (635 sq.m). Accommodation comprises; Large family reception room, dining room, family room, study, kitchen breakfast room, master bedroom with en-suite dressing room and bathroom, six further bedroom suites including separate access to staff accommodation.

Amenities include an integral double garage, large private rear garden with expansive terrace, Lutron lighting, solid oak flooring, bespoke oak doors, air conditioning throughout, security system and full irrigation system.

£8,950,000 Freehold / £8,000 per week

West End Office

St Johns Wood Office

49 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 9XN

102 St John’s Wood Terrace, London NW8 6PL

enquiries@hanover-residential.com hanover-residential.com

info@hanover-residential.com hanover-residential.com

020 7486 9665

020 7722 2223

Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Church Row, NW3 A truly outstanding Grade II Listed Georgian house in one of Hampstead’s most prized locations. The house is uniquely wide, with five windows across a beautiful facade illuminating the characterful accommodation. A stunning first floor drawing room, large self-contained flat and a pretty walled rear garden are amongst many fine features. EPC: E

Guide Price £7,285,000 Freehold • • • • • •

Hamptons Hampstead Office Sales. 02077175449 | Lettings. 02077175333

Four/five bedrooms Two bathrooms Spectacular drawing room Panelled dining room Conservatory Self-contained flat

hot property

THE LODGE

Presenting a very rare and exciting opportunity: The Lodge is a fully detached house occupying the most tranquil of settings within a small private enclave just by Hampstead Heath. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, it is offered for sale with planning permission to extend and remodel, leaving the next owner free to create an even more sensational and truly one-off residence.

This attractive two-storey house currently boasts three bedrooms, three reception rooms incorporating a double volume height music room, kitchen, two bathrooms and a double garage, but full planning permission has been granted to provide expansive,

semi-open plan reception space, five bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus the creation of a new roof terrace, balcony and a garden terrace.

The mature surroundings are mirrored in the impressive rear garden, enjoying a southerly aspect and with dimensions approaching 100x70ft, while the front of the house offers driveway parking in addition to the garage. The leafy no-throughroad approach to this special location is remarkable, providing a discreet and peaceful retreat whilst being accessible to the fashionable boutiques, cafeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, restaurants and Northern Line underground station of Hampstead village.

property

NORTH END AVENUE, NW3 ÂŁ3,850,000 FREEHOLD Hamptons International Hamptons.co.uk

020 7794 8222 125

Seasons Greetings & Happy New Year

www.laurenceleigh.com / 020 7483 0101

www.laurenceleigh.com / 020 7483 0101

St James Close, St Johns Wood, NW8 Entered via a refurbished communal entrance is a bright and spacious apartment situated on the fifth floor of this prestigious portered block off Prince Albert Road. The flat, is immaculately presented and offers well-proportioned accommodation comprising, two double bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, eat in kitchen and wonderful southerly views over the heart of Central London from the reception room. St James Close, is conveniently located opposite Regents Park, adjacent to Primrose Hill and within half a mile of the boutiques and restaurants of both St Johns Wood High Street and Primrose Hill village. Parking and storage available by separate negotiation.

Leasehold ÂŁ2,495,000 Joint Sole Agent Asking Price: ÂŁ1,299,999 JSA

HAMILTON TERRACE ST JOHNS WOOD, NW8 A beautiful Grade II listed Georgian house located on the favoured Eastern side of Hamilton Terrace, one of St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Woodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest roads. The detached double-fronted house has been authentically restored whilst being refurbished to the highest standard, and features the finest materials and finishes throughout. The addition of a new basement extension introduces a modern element of living to this period home.

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FREEHOLD PRICE ON APPLICATION SOLE AGENT

ACCOMMODATION & AMENITIES Laid out over five floors and offering over 5,250 sq. ft. / 486 sq. mt. of accommodation, the house provides well-planned living space comprising five sizeable bedroom suites, formal reception room, formal dining room, study, kitchen/breakfast room, impressive leisure area incorporating gym, cinema and bar area and magnificent 100 ft. landscaped garden.

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Local know-how. Better results.

Askew Road

Bishops Park

Clapham

Hammersmith

Marylebone & Mayfair

Richmond

Balham

Brook Green

Earls Court

Holland Park

North Kensington

South Kensington

Barnes

Camden

East Sheen

Kensington

Notting Hill

Battersea

Chelsea

Fulham

Little Venice

Pimlico & Westminster

Albany Street NW1 ÂŁ4,250,000 This truly magnificent four-bedroom period house is arranged over five floors, including a seperate studio flat on the lower ground floor. The stunning accommodation provides excellent entertaining space with three reception rooms, a well equipped kitchen and an attractive rear garden with a gate leading onto the outer circle of Regents Park. Leasehold. EPC=D. Sole Agents.

CAMDEN: 020 7244 2200 sales.cam@marshandparsons.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter: @marshandparsons

Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/marshandparsons

Visit our YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/marshandparsons

SALES

See all of our properties online: marshandparsons.co.uk

Ashworth Mansions W9 ÂŁ1,195,000 The spacious two-bedroom mansion flat has been renovated to exacting standards and comprises a larger than usual reception room with a feature fireplace and high ceilings opening into a large kitchen/breakfast room, a master bedroom with built-in storage, a further double bedroom and a family bathroom. EPC=D. Sole Agents.

LITTLE VENICE: 020 7993 2050 sales.lve@marshandparsons.co.uk

Oval Road, NW1 ÂŁ999,950 Located close the amenities of Camden Town and Primrose Hill, this third floor, two-bedroom canal side apartment is immaculately presented throughout. Offering unique warehouse style living with exposed brick walls this property benefits from a wonderful open plan living/kitchen/dining space, two spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms (one en suite) and a private balcony. Leasehold. EPC=B

CAMDEN: 020 7244 2200 sales.cam@marshandparsons.co.uk