Bangkok without the bang

Spear’s | 22 Jun 2012

I’m not ordinarily a fan of Bangkok – too much heat, too many knockoffs – but then there’s the Sukhotai hotel. Yes it’s surrounded by high-rise buildings in one of the noisiest and most traffic-choked cities in the world. But stop a while – inside, it’s pure orchid filled Zen and The Art of Hotel Living. Plus it offers something that’s as rare as a paragliding saffron-robed monk: it’s a resort hotel set calmly in the centre of the city.

• Travel: Asia/ Oceania

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Spear’s Spa Selection

Spear’s | 13 Feb 2012

A former Barclays Bank branch has been reborn as the Chuan Spa in the grand 19th-century Langham Hotel, London. Now that the money men have gone, the spa has settled prettily in a brilliant spot on Portland Place – directly opposite Broadcasting House, the iconic home of the BBC, and just a few Louboutin-shod steps from Bond Street and even more exclusive Mount Street.

• Health, Beauty & Spa

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Doyenne of the downturn

Spear’s | 19 Sep 2011

The year may have been humbling for many of the hedge-fund industry’s biggest stars and other experienced investors and traders. Many have found it hard to cope with the effects of Japan’s disasters, uneven US and British economic recoveries, commodity price volatility and concerns about the solvency of Greece and other European nations. This is hardly the time, you would think, for the wives of hedgies to be demanding a new personal shopper, only the woman in question is devoted to rationalising your portfolio (of clothes) and helping you avoid a haircut (on ill-advised purchases).

• Shopping & Fashion

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Dude looks like a lady

Spear’s | 13 Sep 2010

It used to be a man’s world. But since the credit crunch men have increasingly been turning to everything from make-up and cosmetic surgery to hormone replacement therapy. Now chaps are having to play a woman’s game. Men in high-powered jobs are expected to be eternally youthful, to display endless stamina and vigour. And, on top of this, increasingly, they’re judged on their looks.

• Health, Beauty & Spa

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Flight Mischief

Spear’s | 22 Jul 2010

If you’re going to pay a flying visit to the hotspots of East Africa, then by golly do it in a helicopter.

• Travel: Europe/ Africa

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