Hotels
You're into the action straight away at Madrid flashpacker hostel The Hat, which has taken the admirable decision to place the bar at the centre of its reception area. Start as you mean to go on, as my old headmaster used to say... Anyway, The Hat...
Bars & Nightlife
Spain is a country of staunch tradition, where dependability can oft override the taking on board of new concepts. As such, many of its markets - give or take a lick of paint here and there - remain much the same as they have for decades, centuries....
Culture
Quietly strutting its stuff on a handsome street in Madrid's Las Salesas barrio - propping up neighbouring Alonso Martinez and Chueca in the city's cultural hub - Do is a congruously-named design store that has been Do-ing much for the area's...
Lifestyle
Concept stores, one-stop-shops, hotchpotch breeding grounds of creativity and lifestyle; however you choose to define the indefinable spaces that litter the creative quarters of international cities, they typically fall into one of two categories....
Shopping
It's all about relationships at Mama Campo, an unusual restaurant-store combo in Madrid which prides itself on the provenance of its ingredients. When they say the eggs come from their supplier Mikel's “happy hens”, you believe it, likewise the...
Eating Out
Ana La Santa, the brainchild of Barcelona-based Tomas Tarruella and his En Compañia de Lobos group, is the restaurant of the Hotel Me Maria Victoria Madrid. The culinary concept is to provide many styles of food within one venue, from tapas and...
Hotels
With a smart urban-industrial look and some very reasonable room rates, Room007 Ventura is a hostel that won't be a secret for very long. Secret, 007, geddit? No? Please yourselves. Anyway, the black and white of Bond's evening wear looks to have...
Hotels
Great strides have been made in the last couple of years to crack the seemingly tough nut of providing hotel quality accommodation at hostel prices, with a proliferation of “design hostels” popping up in major cities. An investment banker...
Lifestyle
Pharmacies are generally grim places to visit, with their super-white, sterile interiors, and people generally feel like crap trying not to cough on each other as they wait for their prescriptions. De Los Austrias Pharmacy, Madrid, is turning that...
City Notes
Chefs Karina Mejía and Israel Montero combine the tradition of Provençal cuisine with the soul and passion of Mexico in Saint Jacques Bistrot, their new gastronomic spot in the capital city's affluent Polanco neighbourhood. Allowing diners to...
City Notes
Located next door to Hotel Wilmina, which is housed in a former Berlin-Charlottenburg women's prison, Lotta Tagesbar has opened its doors, the café cum deli and bar designed by the same team behind Wilmina and serving an exquisite menu of healthy...
City Notes
With an enviable seafront location close to Barcelona and its airport, and having undergone a recent refurbishment, AC Hotel Gavà Mar is a 69-room hotel that is ideal for the business traveller, but also a surprising destination for the discerning...
City Notes
With interiors inspired by the Art Deco of Palm Beach County in Miami, and serving delicious ice cream on a newly pedestrianised street just off Barcelona's renowned Passeig de Gràcia, Amiko is not simply a 'heladería', rather it's a sensory...
Dispatches
Minimalism and elegance, too, are gaining fast as popular choices for serene, sophisticated interiors. Simplicity, clean lines, and curative approaches to decor are all that these two styles are made of, bringing home really calm and clarity within...
Dispatches
Finding the best Botox experts in Toronto can feel overwhelming, given the many options available. To focus your search, consider professionals with extensive experience and positive client reviews. A key step in identifying top specialists is...
Dispatches
Wellness Trends for 2025: A series of posts designed to uncover the most progressive concepts in wellness for the year ahead. Number Eight: Restorative Home Design. In the pursuit of wellness, many people are turning their attention homeward....
Dispatches
Austin’s housing market has seen a significant boom in recent years, with many homeowners looking to boost their property’s value through home improvement projects. In a city where home prices continue to rise, updating key areas of a property,...