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Book New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh
Maybe it’s something to do with the whisky, but no one does New Year’s Eve quite like the Scots. In Edinburgh, Hogmanay is a full-on four-day celebration. This year kicks off on 28 December with a torchlit procession to the sound of bagpipes and drums, followed by an all-singing all-dancing arts festival on George Street and culminating in a midnight street party with three arenas and top pop acts (Franz Ferdinand and The Fratellis have played in the past). To stay in the heart of the action, book a Hogmanay package at new boutique hotel Le Monde. One for global citizens, each room is themed on a different city. Choose from 18 destinations including the elegant loft-style New York suite, Paris with its Louis Quinze-look chairs and brocade, or orchids and kimonos in Tokyo. Plasma screens, city-themed CDs and DVDs (Amélie for Paris, LA Story for Los Angeles), bath-butler service and in-bath screens add to the fun. The Hogmanay package includes welcome drinks, two Street Party tickets, and VIP Shanghai nightclub entrance. From £295 (€425) per double room.
Le Monde
16 George Street
+44 (0)13 1270 3900
www.lemondehotel.co.uk
www.edinburghshogmanay.org
Have tea Testino style
When Margaret Willis found a London venue for her old-fashioned British tea room, it was on the premises of a defunct electricians called Shipp and Co. Willis, who also owns the bric-a-brac store Vintage Heaven in the East End, decided to keep the name – hence Shipp’s Tearooms.
Customers who take a shine to the antique tea sets or tablecloths can ask to purchase them – Mario Testino liked the china enough to use it in a Vogue photo shoot. But never mind the teapots, or even the organic fairtrade teas; visit for the delicious pastries and cakes. You’ll find a far wider and arguably tastier selection than at the tea rooms of the city’s luxury hotels, including vanilla slices, lavender shortbread and traditional Welsh fruitbread, bara brith.
Shipp’s Tearooms
4 Park Street, London
www.shippstearooms.co.uk
Shop for a gay wedding in Barcelona
The first-ever wedding store for gay men, BY, has opened in Barcelona. Overseeing it is Antonio Alvarado, a designer with a film industry background (he’s a favourite of Antonio Banderas). Grooms can customise made-to-measure suits, with monograms or personal inscriptions in the lining. “Our customers are fashion-conscious and looking for something exclusive,” says BY’s Santiago Porrero. “People who want to get away from the approach of big brands.” Suits start from €1,500.
BY
C/ 22 Muntaner, Barcelona, +34 934 518 983
www.bybcn.es
Go hi-tech in the French Alps
The hills are alive – with the sound of your playlist. At Chalet Yellowstone, the latest luxury catered chalet in the Alpine resort of Sainte Foy, every room has an iPod dock, while the art on the walls doubles as speakers. Add to this a plasma screen TV, Wi-Fi, an outdoor hot tub and access to a private spa and gym, and you’d be forgiven for missing out entirely on the skiing, paragliding, horse riding and patisserie classes available nearby. Yellowstone sleeps 15 people at a cost of €23,000 for a week’s visit. The company behind it, Premiere Neige, also rent out affordable two-person chalets from €1,300 per week.
Chalet Yellowstone
Sainte Foy Tarentaise, France, +33 (0)47 906 3055
www.premiere-neige.com
Believe the hype?
The next big thing or straight in the bin?
Sophy Grimshaw investigates.
This issue: weight-loss in a vacuum
“It’s like a rubber tutu,” explains Lucy, my personal instructor, as she helps me pull a sort of black rubber dress on over my sportswear. We’re not at an S&M club (there’s an idea for my next column) but at Hypoxi training. The Hypoxi machine is essentially an exercise bike, but with an important difference: while exercising, your lower half is encased in an artificial vacuum pod. The rubber ‘dress’ acts as an airtight lid. Lucy attaches it to the machine as I sit down on the bike, and I’m sealed in. For the next half hour I cycle gently while the alternating vacuum and compression settings inside the pod mean the fat-burning, circulation-boosting benefits of exercise are manipulated to benefit the lower half of my body the most. Poor circulation is linked to cellulite, so after 12 sessions the idea is that I’ll have perfect skin as well as smaller vital statistics.
I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and I have to admit that the machine really does work. Despite taking no other exercise for a month and having eaten a chocolate dessert that could have fed a family of five, I’ve lost a total of 19cm from my various measurements. My skin has also improved, and I’m 3.3kg lighter.
You can find Hypoxi, originally an Austrian invention, in selected gyms throughout Europe. But beauty doesn’t come cheap – 12 sessions cost somewhere in the region of €700 – €800. www.hypoxi.net
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