https://www.scmp.com/rss/75730/feed Gillian Rhys has contributed to the SCMP for a decade. She has been an editor at the BBC, LUXE City Guides and delicious magazine and has written about travel and lifestyle for the likes of the Robb Report, CNN.com, Australian Financial Review and the UK’s FT, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and the Evening Standard. She lives in London after several years in Hong Kong and Singapore. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Gillian Rhys Gillian Rhys In a peaceful valley among gentle rolling hills in Hampshire is a field much like any other in this part of southeast England. Seen through the hedgerow from a narrow country lane there’s nothing to signify it was the birthplace of one of the world’s most famous novelists. But 250 years ago, on a frosty December 16, Jane Austen was born in Steventon rectory, which stood on this site, and lived here until she was 25, more than half her 41-year life. The city of Bath is the location most... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3336072/search-jane-austens-england-quiet-rectories-grand-estates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3336072/search-jane-austens-england-quiet-rectories-grand-estates?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 01:00:16 +0000 Gillian Rhys Gillian Rhys This month, the much-anticipated Tobi Masa restaurant, by celebrated sushi chef Masayoshi (“Masa”) Takayama, will be unveiled at Rosewood’s opulent new hotel in London. Tobi means “to fly” in Japanese and the name is a nod to the gargantuan golden eagle sculpture perched on top of The Chancery Rosewood. As the all-suite hotel’s roof art suggests, it takes up the former United States embassy building on Grosvenor Square and has inherited the previous incumbent’s avian symbol, now presiding over... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3328239/5-hong-kong-owned-hotels-bringing-asian-flavours-world-class-kitchens-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3328239/5-hong-kong-owned-hotels-bringing-asian-flavours-world-class-kitchens-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:45:08 +0000 The first Sunday of the Year of the Wood Snake, February 2, will see the largest Lunar New Year celebrations outside Asia taking place in London. What began in the 1970s as a small community celebration in the British capital’s Chinatown has steadily grown into a festival including a grand parade, live performances and food and drink, taking place across the West End, from Trafalgar Square to Shaftsbury Avenue. “London is gearing up for one of its biggest annual events as we celebrate the Year... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3295477/biggest-chinese-new-year-event-outside-asia-will-take-place-londons-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3295477/biggest-chinese-new-year-event-outside-asia-will-take-place-londons-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2025 10:15:08 +0000 In 2023, when Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s inflatable giant yellow rubber duck returned to Victoria Harbour (this time as a pair, in the artwork Double Duck), the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong hotel took advantage of its bird’s eye view of the installation by posting on Instagram an image of a guest room with the hotel’s own rubber ducks in the foreground. Now a new duck has joined the MO flock. “All the Mandarin Orientals have a rubber duck but ours is the most glamorous,” says Susanne... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3274165/rubber-ducks-riding-high-hong-kong-hotel-rooms-cruise-ships-why-so?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3274165/rubber-ducks-riding-high-hong-kong-hotel-rooms-cruise-ships-why-so?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Aug 2024 08:15:11 +0000 Speedboat Bar, named after the turbocharged long-tail boats that race along Bangkok’s rivers and canals, aims to bring a taste of the Thai capital’s Yaowarat Road to London’s Chinatown. Bright red stools are lined up for dining outside, while inside there’s a clash of colours and prints; the menu is Thai-Chinese. Smiling young staff wear Hawaiian shirts or soccer jerseys, and the upstairs bar has TV screens showing Muay Thai bouts – and boat races. This is one of several newly opened venues in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3273411/new-restaurants-londons-chinatown-celebrate-east-asian-and-southeast-asian-cuisines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3273411/new-restaurants-londons-chinatown-celebrate-east-asian-and-southeast-asian-cuisines?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2024 11:15:10 +0000 Just as Hong Kong has the Mandarin Oriental and The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, so London now has two MO hotels, becoming only the second city with that distinction. The new-build Mandarin Oriental Mayfair opened on June 3, complementing the luxury group’s grande dame in the British capital, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. “Both The Landmark and Mandarin Oriental Mayfair offer a more intimate, boutique style of hotel to their sister properties, with a more contemporary design,” says general... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3265421/mandarin-orientals-second-property-london-more-intimate-boutique-style-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3265421/mandarin-orientals-second-property-london-more-intimate-boutique-style-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:15:08 +0000 The role of head of design at luxury hotel group Maybourne was made for Michelle Wu Wai-sze. Literally. “The job didn’t exist before then. I started from scratch as a one-woman band,” she tells me when we meet at London hotel Claridge’s, the jewel in the Maybourne crown. Wu grew up in Hong Kong – her parents and brother still live in the city – but is now based in the British capital, where Maybourne is headquartered and has three further hotels: The Berkeley, The Connaught and the just-opened,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3263471/claridges-berkeley-maybourne-riviera-luxury-hotels-have-hong-kong-born-michelle-wu-thank-their-looks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3263471/claridges-berkeley-maybourne-riviera-luxury-hotels-have-hong-kong-born-michelle-wu-thank-their-looks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2024 23:15:09 +0000 Taylor Swift may sing “So long, London” on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, but she will be returning this June and August to play eight dates at the city’s Wembley Stadium as her Eras Tour continues. The pop superstar lived in the British capital during her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, leading her to write the song “London Boy”. Their relationship ended last year but, thanks to the 2019 song, Swift’s favourite haunts in the city have been preserved in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3261527/touring-taylor-swifts-london-guide-city-through-her-lyrics-pubs-parks-and-their-connections-her-exes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3261527/touring-taylor-swifts-london-guide-city-through-her-lyrics-pubs-parks-and-their-connections-her-exes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2024 04:45:11 +0000 Since the rumours that season three of HBO television series The White Lotus would be filmed in Thailand were confirmed, speculation has been rife over which luxury hotels will “star” – there will be more than one this time around. As the first two series were shot at Four Seasons properties – under the fictitious White Lotus brand – naturally expectations are that the relationship will continue. The Koh Samui resort has been mooted, along with Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas – both hotels... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3251478/white-lotus-succession-are-hotels-happy-publicity-scenes-murder-and-sex-shot-their-premises-brings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3251478/white-lotus-succession-are-hotels-happy-publicity-scenes-murder-and-sex-shot-their-premises-brings?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Feb 2024 11:15:14 +0000 In the opening scene of Neil Simon’s 1968 play and subsequent film, Plaza Suite, “Visitor from Mamaroneck” Karen Nash exclaims, “Oh my God, The Savoy has gone!” as she looks out of the window from The Plaza hotel, in New York. When Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw) delivers the line when it comes to London this month, it’ll probably get a bigger laugh than usual. That’s because the production, in which Parker stars with her real-life husband, Matthew Broderick (Ferris... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3248067/why-sarah-jessica-parkers-line-savoy-has-gone-neil-simons-plaza-suite-will-get-bigger-laugh-usual?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3248067/why-sarah-jessica-parkers-line-savoy-has-gone-neil-simons-plaza-suite-will-get-bigger-laugh-usual?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jan 2024 09:15:19 +0000 Starring Timothée Chalamet, Willy Wonka’s origin story is now showing in cinemas – a century after the character’s creator, Roald Dahl, was discovering his love of sweets while growing up in Wales. “The sweet shop in Llandaff in the year 1923 was the very centre of our lives,” wrote Roald Dahl in Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984), which is not an autobiography, he insisted, but a collection of stories detailing the most impressionable episodes of his young life. The sweet shop in question –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3246004/loved-wonka-stay-sweet-shop-author-roald-dahl-adored-its-now-holiday-rental-available-airbnb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3246004/loved-wonka-stay-sweet-shop-author-roald-dahl-adored-its-now-holiday-rental-available-airbnb?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Dec 2023 09:15:09 +0000 We’ve all been there. The plane lands early in the morning but the hotel check-in is midafternoon. Or departure is on a night flight – several hours after checkout. While many hotels will try to accommodate early arrivals and late departures, the benchmark has long been 3pm check-in and 12pm checkout. But changes are afoot – at both ends of the spectrum. Some hotels have shrunk stays to 4pm check-in and 11am (or earlier) checkout, while others are extending or scrapping set times altogether –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3245032/how-hotels-early-check-and-late-checkout-are-breaking-tired-3pm-12pm-standard-wake-covid-19-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3245032/how-hotels-early-check-and-late-checkout-are-breaking-tired-3pm-12pm-standard-wake-covid-19-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Dec 2023 23:15:10 +0000 If you visit the just opened Broadwick Soho hotel in London there may well be an elephant in the room. “The elephant is part of Broadwick Soho’s official logo and references to them can be found throughout the hotel,” says Josh Gardner, executive director of the appealingly flamboyant boutique hotel. There are cocktail cabinets fashioned out of antique Indian brass and hand carved with elephant motifs by artisans in Jaipur in all of the suites; some of the rooms feature wallpaper with similar... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3242525/air-indias-maharaja-kumamon-cartoon-bear-tourism-mascots-drew-attention-and-some-mak-mak-macau?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3242525/air-indias-maharaja-kumamon-cartoon-bear-tourism-mascots-drew-attention-and-some-mak-mak-macau?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 08:15:10 +0000 To borrow from the popular British saying about buses, in this case you can wait years for an Asian grand dame hotel to come to London, and then two open in the same month. When the original Peninsula and Raffles hotels opened, their owners had aspirations for them to be the finest “east of the Suez”. Now, arguably two of the most venerable, storied and luxurious hotel names in the world, with their roots in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively, have just opened their first British... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3239396/peninsula-vs-raffles-how-londons-2-new-asian-brand-hotels-square-rooms-suites-restaurants-prices-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3239396/peninsula-vs-raffles-how-londons-2-new-asian-brand-hotels-square-rooms-suites-restaurants-prices-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Oct 2023 23:45:09 +0000 When David and Victoria Beckham’s wedding date was announced back in the 1990s, there was an anecdote doing the rounds in Britain. Everyone knew someone whose friend had a booking for the best suite at The Ritz hotel, in London, on the same date and who had been asked to give it up for a huge amount of money. When the offer was accepted, so the story went, a cheque duly arrived from a “Mr D Beckham”. Apocryphal as that story was, thanks to the new Netflix documentary Beckham we now know that the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3238062/travel-david-and-victoria-beckham-5-luxury-hotels-couple-have-stayed-their-first-holiday-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3238062/travel-david-and-victoria-beckham-5-luxury-hotels-couple-have-stayed-their-first-holiday-their?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Oct 2023 20:15:11 +0000 In a recent interview, Miley Cyrus was asked if she was going on tour. “Yeah, the Aman hotel tour,” the American pop star joked. “Singing in the lobby for that complimentary massage.” Cyrus may not be going on the road any time soon, but many other artists are. From Beyoncé, Blackpink and Taylor Swift to Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and Harry Styles, a myriad of music superstars are on stadium world tours. And wherever they announce a concert date, their fans follow. As each stadium concert... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3230223/taylor-swift-bts-well-holiday-rise-music-tourism-where-pop-fans-marry-concerts-sightseeing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3230223/taylor-swift-bts-well-holiday-rise-music-tourism-where-pop-fans-marry-concerts-sightseeing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Aug 2023 23:15:12 +0000 The passengers are settled into their seats and the train is about to depart when a dapper, mustachioed young man dressed in tweeds hurries through the carriage. “I don’t actually have a ticket, I’m looking for a compartment to hide in,” he announces, before disappearing through the mahogany doors to the next car. While we are left bemused in his wake, a pair of equally stylish women sashay through, murmuring between themselves about needing champagne. Something sinister is afoot; not so much... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3228229/murder-mystery-experience-british-luxury-train-cleverly-conceived-perfectly-acted-and-delicious-five?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3228229/murder-mystery-experience-british-luxury-train-cleverly-conceived-perfectly-acted-and-delicious-five?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:15:16 +0000 I am greeted by an elegant okami-san (hostess) and led along a corridor of stone flooring flanked by cedar wood walls and past a noren (curtain), where a counter is immaculately set up for dining. So far, so Tokyo – except I am in London, on the first floor of the 45 Park Lane hotel. Sushi Kanesaka is the newest outpost of Japanese chef Shinji Kanesaka, whose restaurant empire spans several Michelin-star venues in Tokyo, including his flagship two-star Ginza Sushi Kanesaka. He has also opened... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3225531/most-expensive-set-menu-uk-its-sushi-more-us530-and-experience-so-classically-japanese-youll-forget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3225531/most-expensive-set-menu-uk-its-sushi-more-us530-and-experience-so-classically-japanese-youll-forget?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jun 2023 08:15:09 +0000 Over four seasons of the hit HBO television series Succession, the power struggles of billionaire media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his offspring have played out against a backdrop of beautiful locations. The Roys, their business associates and their love interests have private-jetted their way around some of the most luxurious and intriguing hotels and holiday rentals in the United States and Europe. As Succession fans go into mourning following the recently aired grand finale – and most... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3223531/stay-where-successions-logan-roy-kendall-roman-and-shiv-stayed-all-location-properties-seen-hbo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3223531/stay-where-successions-logan-roy-kendall-roman-and-shiv-stayed-all-location-properties-seen-hbo?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jun 2023 10:15:11 +0000 I’m sitting on a red leather chair bearing a gold portcullis motif in a room with a wood panelled ceiling, stained-glass windows and 19th-century wallpaper. Portraits of bewigged grandees stare down as I order a glass of House of Lords claret and peruse the lunch menu. I’m in the Peers’ Dining Room at the House of Lords, London for one of its rare Public Dining Experiences. The Dining Room is open to the paying public for just a handful of days a year when peers – members of the House of Lords,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3220572/commoner-enjoys-house-red-and-stately-lunch-rare-open-day-peers-dining-room-britains-house-lords?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3220572/commoner-enjoys-house-red-and-stately-lunch-rare-open-day-peers-dining-room-britains-house-lords?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 May 2023 10:15:14 +0000 Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, streaming on Netflix from May 4, is a fictionalised drama about the wife of King George III going back to when the young princess arrived in Britain, in 1761, to marry the monarch. The series’ executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, says the prequel to Bridgerton came about as both she and the mother-in-law of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos are “obsessed” with the Queen Charlotte character. If your interest in the real-life queen consort from the north German duchy of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3219110/netflixs-queen-charlotte-bridgerton-story-debuts-3-places-follow-footsteps-real-life-queen-starting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3219110/netflixs-queen-charlotte-bridgerton-story-debuts-3-places-follow-footsteps-real-life-queen-starting?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 May 2023 20:15:07 +0000 Having taken in New York, Los Angeles and suburban California in seasons one to three, Netflix’s over-the-top psychological satire You saw lead character Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley, Gossip Girl) hotfoot it to Paris at the end of the last series. But when season four dropped in February, we saw the charming stalker turned serial killer quickly move on to London on his “little European holiday”. Joe is now masquerading as Jonathan Moore, a lecturer at Darcy College, and becomes the hunted rather... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3212219/8-locations-netflixs-you-season-4-london-and-surrounding-areas-you-can-visit-citys-oldest-church?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3212219/8-locations-netflixs-you-season-4-london-and-surrounding-areas-you-can-visit-citys-oldest-church?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Mar 2023 08:15:08 +0000 On a recent foggy day in London, The Peninsula unveiled its much-anticipated new hotel, located down the road from Buckingham Palace, at Hyde Park Corner in a former office block. Familiar large stone lions stand guard outside, and pages in their recognisable white uniforms and hats greet us. Inside, The Lobby is reminiscent of the Hong Kong flagship, with white columns and tables arranged for afternoon tea. While the Peninsula hallmarks are here, a sense of the British capital is too, notably... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3209211/peninsula-london-inside-new-uk-hotel-hong-kong-touches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3209211/peninsula-london-inside-new-uk-hotel-hong-kong-touches?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Feb 2023 20:15:12 +0000 I’m three floors below ground in what must be one of central London’s most serene spaces. This cocoon of limestone, wood and soft lighting is the first spa that Claridge’s hotel has had in its 166-year history and it has been designed by Hong Kong architect André Fu. Throughout Brexit, Covid-19 and four prime ministers, the spa took shape in the clay beneath Claridge’s. To get here, I wove through the commuters and shoppers on the Mayfair pavements and through the hotel’s lobby, lively with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3198308/how-asian-hotel-brands-are-bringing-eastern-spa-experience-london?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3198308/how-asian-hotel-brands-are-bringing-eastern-spa-experience-london?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Nov 2022 04:45:10 +0000 In September, just days before Britain’s Queen Elizabeth died, news broke that one of her houses was available for rent on Airbnb. Discreetly posted as: Garden House, Sandringham, United Kingdom, and “hosted by Norfolk Hideaways”, the posting created some excitement. But there are several British royal properties that can be leased as holiday lets. And this is likely to continue because King Charles III seems keen to open up royal properties to the public. In 2021, British newspaper The Sunday... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3195997/vacation-rentals-british-royal-estates-sandringham?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3195997/vacation-rentals-british-royal-estates-sandringham?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Oct 2022 08:15:08 +0000 Battersea Power Station, the distinctive brick building with four white chimneys on the south bank of the River Thames, in southwest London, has been dormant for nearly four decades. But now the nine-acre (3.6-hectare) property (St Paul’s Cathedral could fit inside its boiler room) is opening to the public for the first time, having been transformed into a retail and leisure destination. More than 100 shops, restaurants, bars and cafes will be housed in the former power station, along with a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3195813/londons-iconic-battersea-power-station-reborn-transformed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3195813/londons-iconic-battersea-power-station-reborn-transformed?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Oct 2022 08:00:11 +0000 Walking up the red-carpeted, gold-leafed, double-pronged Grand Staircase, it’s hard not to entertain thoughts of “You shall go to the ball!” I’m at London’s Buckingham Palace to visit the State Rooms, which are open to the public this summer, until October 2, for the first time since 2019. The State Rooms, where the British royal family meets and entertains official visitors, lie deep beyond the famous facade, in the West Wing of the palace. Entry for the paying public, which costs £30 (US$36)... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3187030/whats-buckingham-palace-inside-british-royals-state-rooms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3187030/whats-buckingham-palace-inside-british-royals-state-rooms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Aug 2022 08:15:16 +0000 Netflix’s new production of Persuasion, which includes Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding among its ensemble cast, has had Jane Austen purists reaching for the smelling salts. Austen’s final completed novel follows the travails of heartbroken heroine Anne Elliot (Dakota Johnson) who was once “persuaded” to reject the marriage proposal of Captain Frederick Wentworth as he had no status or fortune. When Wentworth reappears several years later, Anne is also been wooed by the charming and handsome... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3185242/love-netflixs-persuasion-5-movie-locations-you-can-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3185242/love-netflixs-persuasion-5-movie-locations-you-can-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Jul 2022 08:15:20 +0000 The instructions were to arrive at “the Spies Entrance” in Whitehall at six o’clock sharp. The intriguing missive was not an assignation with M or Moneypenny but an invitation to take a “first look” at Raffles London at The OWO (The Old War Office) – the first British outpost of the Singapore-based hotel brand – part of the Accor group – and part-owned by Indian conglomerate the Hinduja Group. Completed in 1906, the building was the centre of operations through two world wars and home to the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3184550/james-bond-movies-were-filmed-there-now-its-being-turned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3184550/james-bond-movies-were-filmed-there-now-its-being-turned?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jul 2022 08:15:21 +0000 With a hotel in the Chinese city of Wuhan as well as several in gateway cities across Asia, Dorsett International was one of the earliest hospitality groups to witness what would become known as Covid-19 and its effect on the industry. “The first sign for us was really right in the beginning [of the pandemic] with our hotel Dorsett Wuhan,” says Winnie Chiu Wing-kwan, president of Hong Kong-headquartered Dorsett Hospitality International. “We understood very early on that we were facing an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3178503/how-travel-and-tourism-are-changing-says-hong-kong-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3178503/how-travel-and-tourism-are-changing-says-hong-kong-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 May 2022 23:15:10 +0000 “I’ve come into possession of a villa in the South of France,” announces the Dowager Countess of Grantham in the upcoming film Downton Abbey: A New Era. And you can, too – complete with a butler and other staff – at least for a few nights, or several weeks. The Côte d’Azur villa featured in the film is just one of the exclusive private homes available to rent through Homanie, one of a new breed of luxury holiday-lease brands providing service on a par with a luxury hotel. Launched in March 2021,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3176004/french-villa-downton-abbey-movie-you-can-rent-it-us52k?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3176004/french-villa-downton-abbey-movie-you-can-rent-it-us52k?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 May 2022 23:45:11 +0000 From Sleepless in Seattle to Notting Hill, there is a long list of romantic comedies whose titles reference the locations in which they are set. The latest is Autumn in Wales, a Malaysian film. The storyline follows pampered Aira (Eyka Farhana) as she travels to Wales to surprise her suave ex-fiancé, Darwish (Keith Foo), after he suddenly broke off their engagement. On arriving, Aira finds Darwish smitten with the sophisticated Marissa (Wanna Ali). Aira subsequently teams up with the quirky Jaka... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3173544/new-malaysian-movie-autumn-wales-shows-beauty-rugged-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3173544/new-malaysian-movie-autumn-wales-shows-beauty-rugged-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Apr 2022 23:15:21 +0000 It may be difficult to imagine now, but when The Peninsula hotel opened in Hong Kong, in 1928, it was laughed off as a white elephant in which nobody would stay. So recalls the late Lawrence Kadoorie, son of the hotel’s founder, Elly Kadoorie, in archive footage belonging to the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels company. Despite The Pen having been designed as “the finest hotel east of Suez”, as far as the well-heeled international passengers disembarking from ships in the harbour were concerned,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3169830/location-talent-cosmopolitanism-why-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3169830/location-talent-cosmopolitanism-why-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Mar 2022 05:45:16 +0000 Take one part heritage hotel, one part fabled bar, add a dash of controversy, then stir and you have the recipe behind some classic cocktails. In December, Harry’s Bar in Paris celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bloody Mary it claims a former barman there, Fernand Petiot, created in 1921. The St Regis New York hotel also claims the Bloody Mary – poured, it says, at its King Cole bar by the very same Petiot, but in 1934. According to the St Regis, the story goes like this: “In 1934, famed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165781/where-was-bloody-mary-invented-and-what-about-james-bonds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165781/where-was-bloody-mary-invented-and-what-about-james-bonds?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Feb 2022 10:15:18 +0000 When Thai company Minor Hotels bought a majority stake in London restaurateur Corbin & King it seemed like a match made in hospitality heaven. Chris Corbin and Jeremy King had successfully opened a clutch of all-day dining cafes and brasseries across the British capital. Each had its own name and concept, the most famous being The Wolseley, just along from The Ritz on a site formerly occupied by a building called China House. The restaurant attracted a stellar crowd and a table within the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165549/did-top-british-restaurant-wolseleys-asia-expansion-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165549/did-top-british-restaurant-wolseleys-asia-expansion-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:15:22 +0000 After two years of travel restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, escape the frustrations by being transported to opulent New York, circa 1880. That’s the premise of The Gilded Age, a new HBO period drama revolving around high society and taking in swanky settings from the Upper East Side, Manhattan to Newport, Rhode Island. The nine-episode series is the creation of Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes. Set on the other side of the Atlantic from that series, and in the late 19th... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165050/where-see-locations-used-hbos-gilded-age-period-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3165050/where-see-locations-used-hbos-gilded-age-period-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jan 2022 11:45:16 +0000 It was love at first sight when glamorous Margaret Sweeny, the future Duchess of Argyll, set eyes on Inveraray Castle, in western Scotland. This was understandable, despite the castle’s neglected state, given the romantic-looking conical roofed turrets and glorious position in vast parkland edging Loch Fyne. Rich and spoilt Margaret, debutante of the year in 1930 and the “Mrs Sweeny” namechecked in the Cole Porter song You’re the Top (1934), is said to have become enamoured with restoring the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3162405/very-british-scandal-inside-castle-dirty-duchess-scotland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3162405/very-british-scandal-inside-castle-dirty-duchess-scotland?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jan 2022 08:15:09 +0000 Through screens both large and small, you may have been vicariously living under the Tuscan sun and on a Roman holiday this winter. Italy has been the setting for several scenes in recent popular TV shows and movies, from hit HBO series Succession and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show (kind of) to the House of Gucci film. Here are some of the filming locations you might like to visit when coronavirus travel restrictions are finally lifted. Tuscany The concluding episodes in season three of Succession... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3160757/succession-house-gucci-where-find-italy-you-have-seen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3160757/succession-house-gucci-where-find-italy-you-have-seen?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 04:45:18 +0000 I hear the familiar strains of the Sex and the City theme tune and, just like that, I am inside Carrie Bradshaw’s New York flat. Not the actual one – exterior shots aside, that existed only on a studio soundstage – but I am in a recreation of the set in Covent Garden, London. This “immersive pop-up” was open to the public on December 11-12 to mark the launch of the Sex and the City revival series, And Just Like That ..., and the fact that the entire SATC back catalogue is now being streamed on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3159458/sex-and-city-tours-carrie-bradshaws-apartment-london?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3159458/sex-and-city-tours-carrie-bradshaws-apartment-london?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Dec 2021 03:31:36 +0000 As I sit at a white-clothed table, sip wine from a cut glass goblet and watch the Kent countryside, in southern England, roll by through the window, I feel as if I could be in a Wes Anderson film. That’s not just because trains are a recurring fixture in Anderson’s productions but because the carriage I’m travelling in has been revamped by the movie director himself. Paris-based Anderson, who directed movies including The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr Fox, dislikes flying and is a regular on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3156670/wes-anderson-designed-luxury-train-carriage-lets-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3156670/wes-anderson-designed-luxury-train-carriage-lets-you?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 21:15:19 +0000 Tara Bernerd’s career in hotel design was kick-started by a project with Aron Harilela, so she was thrilled to be collaborating on a second Hari property, this time in the hospitality businessman’s native Hong Kong. Neither of them could have predicted that the hotel opening, in December 2020, would take place during a global pandemic. “It was exhilarating and at the same time heartbreaking,” Bernerd tells me of the experience when I meet her at The Hari London. The designer temporarily closed... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3154986/hari-hong-kong-hotels-interior-designer-talks-us-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3154986/hari-hong-kong-hotels-interior-designer-talks-us-through?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Nov 2021 23:15:12 +0000 Movies made by Marvel Studios tend to be filmed against blue or green screens, and involve a lot of special effects rather than real-life destinations, but that’s changed with its latest blockbuster, Eternals. “Director Chloé Zhao employs a naturalistic style of location-based filmmaking, so she wanted the filming to take place at practical locations, as much as was feasibly possible,” a Marvel Studios spokesperson says. Eternals centres on a group of otherworldly superheroes, the cast led by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3154190/where-chloe-zhao-filmed-marvels-eternals-locations-stood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3154190/where-chloe-zhao-filmed-marvels-eternals-locations-stood?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 20:15:16 +0000 Tourist chiefs around the world are understandably desperate to entice visitors back following nearly two of the most challenging years, so could arguably be forgiven for displays of overenthusiasm. Spain’s tourism minister, however, seems to have overstepped the mark completely. Commenting on the volcanic eruption that continues to cause destruction on La Palma, one of the country’s tourism-dependent Canary Islands, Reyes Maroto told Canal Sur radio: “We’re providing information so that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3151886/spains-volcano-tourist-attraction-gaffe-far-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3151886/spains-volcano-tourist-attraction-gaffe-far-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Oct 2021 06:45:16 +0000 Lifts, elevators – call them what you will, but almost all guests use them, so the chances of rubbing shoulders with someone famous in those of a luxury hotel are not negligible. In the lifts at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, for example, I’ve been joined by tennis legend John McEnroe and philosopher/author Alain de Botton. A (now former) employee of Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt once told me that whenever David Beckham stayed, he preferred to use the service elevator, presumably to avoid... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3143211/fastest-highest-most-historic-and-instagramable-elevators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3143211/fastest-highest-most-historic-and-instagramable-elevators?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Aug 2021 06:15:05 +0000 I returned to Raffles last night. It wasn’t a dream, nor was I actually there – fat chance of that in these times of ever-deflating travel bubbles! Instead, I watched an interactive play filmed and set in the Singaporean hotel.  The Curious Case of the Missing Peranakan Treasure, by theatre companies Double Confirm Productions and Sight Lines Entertainment, was filmed entirely on location at Raffles using 360-degree virtual-reality cameras. I was able to “enter” the familiar white facade, “check... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3136971/singapore-hotels-pivot-arts-stay-afloat-during-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3136971/singapore-hotels-pivot-arts-stay-afloat-during-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jun 2021 23:15:00 +0000 “When I read it now I feel myself back again on the steamer from Assuan to Wadi Halfa,” Agatha Christie wrote in a foreword to her novel Death on the Nile (1937). Christie was inspired by a holiday in Egypt, and observed that the resulting book “is one of the best of my ‘foreign travel’ ones … the reader can escape to sunny skies and blue water in the confines of an armchair”. Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming film version of the murder mystery is likely to have viewers vicariously visiting Egypt, too.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3133782/egypt-travel-experience-whet-appetites-2022-death-nile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3133782/egypt-travel-experience-whet-appetites-2022-death-nile?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 May 2021 10:45:16 +0000 Unusual times call for unusual approaches to hospitality and entertainment, not least in the British capital, London, which is emerging from a long, hard winter of Covid-19 lockdown measures. High above Park Lane, the rooftop of The Dorchester has been opened as a bar and restaurant for the first time in the hotel’s 90-year history. The wraparound terrace overlooks Hyde Park from what is now a lounge and cigar bar while the restaurant area has views of city landmarks including Westminster... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3130416/bubble-yoga-drive-raves-and-tables-one-creative-ways?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3130416/bubble-yoga-drive-raves-and-tables-one-creative-ways?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:15:06 +0000 If you’re a regular guest at one of The House Collective hotels in Hong Kong and mainland China, chances are you’ve found a smart leather bag in your room at some point. The tote is not for sale, but is a gift for “returning guests”, a spokesman for The House Collective says. The bag, which was introduced in around 2012, was the inspiration of a senior manager at The Upper House, Hong Kong who is “well travelled and loves fashion”, the spokesman says. “The idea was to create a bag that’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3125452/how-luxury-hotels-reward-loyal-customers-bags-t-shirts-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3125452/how-luxury-hotels-reward-loyal-customers-bags-t-shirts-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Mar 2021 09:45:13 +0000 Given the correlation between their clienteles, it is no surprise that luxury hotels collaborate with fashion designers on clothing ranges, from one-off limited editions to ongoing capsule collections – some even creating their own brands. Here are some of the most interesting current tie-ups: Eden Rock-St Barths One of the world’s coolest clothing brands has collaborated with one of the most iconic hotels in Off-White x Eden Rock-St Barths. “Off-White are huge fans of the island and there was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3123997/capsule-collections-six-best-collaborations-between?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3123997/capsule-collections-six-best-collaborations-between?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Mar 2021 12:15:07 +0000 It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Regency period drama must be shot on location in the English city of Bath. And so, in opulent new Netflix series Bridgerton (the name of a family, not a place), Bath’s picturesque Georgian architecture stands in for London in 1813. All the exterior shots of “Mayfair” were actually filmed against the honey stone facades of Alfred, Bath and Great Pulteney streets, as well as Beauford Square and Royal Crescent. Based on the popular romance novels by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3116759/netflix-series-bridgerton-all-best-locations-are-open?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3116759/netflix-series-bridgerton-all-best-locations-are-open?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jan 2021 10:15:15 +0000