_{The Peninsula London – Brooklands by Claude Bosi restaurant}

The collaborating chef, Norbert Niederkofler, is coming back to one of the cities he first worked in before returning to South Tyrol and winning world-wide fame for his menu at St. Hubertus. That restaurant, using ingredients only produced in the Dolomites, brought him a coveted third star from Michelin, making the menu he will create with Claude Bosi something eagerly anticipated.

_{Chef Claude Bosi}

Guests will start the evening with Deutz Champagne and canapés, sitting at tables appointed for two and four diners, before the two chefs will present their courses in alternate order. Wine pairings, devised by Melody Wong, The Peninsula London’s Director of Wine, will complement the unique menu and add to what promises to be a highly memorable experience in a setting with its own exceptional character.

Brooklands by Claude Bosi, taking its name from the famous Surrey racetrack that launched British racing when it opened in 1907, celebrates aviation as well as motorsports (a scale model of Concorde hangs from the ceiling) and its floor-to-ceiling windows overlook Belgravia and Hyde Park. The view is very different to the one Norbert Niederkofler grew up with in the heart of the Dolomites before leaving (‘I was tired of looking at mountains all the time’) to become a chef so that he could travel the world.

_{Chef Norbert Niederkolfer ©markusranalter}

The Four-Hands Dinner Series continues on the 11^th November with Swiss-born maestro of Alpine cuisine, Sven Wassmer, and events for 2026 will be announced…

by Sean Sheehan

Dinner sittings are from 18.00-21.30 and tickets, £205 per person, are bookable at this reservation link.

The post A Thrilling Four-Hands Dinner with Claude and Co at The Peninsula London first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Mama Shelter resists the vocabulary of ready-made labels and has one reaching for an oxymoronic term like budget luxury. On the one hand, rooms are small, with queen-size beds and some have bunk beds but sheets are satin cotton, some bedrooms have private balconies and all have large screens and sound proofing.

There are two swimming pools, one of which doubles as a stage for DJ sets and live performances, and the rooftop enjoys an air-conditioned restaurant and deckchairs for sunset cocktails. Another restaurant, at ground level, has its own bar and a brasserie-style menu; Sunday brunches, always a big draw in Singapore, will attract local and tourists alike.

_{A medium double at Mama Shelter}

The Paris-born Mama Shelter hotel brand has been around since 2008, accumulating a score of properties around the globe but, until now, none further east of Europe than Dubai. The design team behind the Singapore hotel, Dion & Arles, also worked on Mama Shelter Shoreditch.

Their signature style displays colourful décor, patterned textures and a playful quirkiness that results in whimsical touches to the interior decoration but also, in the Singapore hotel, a hand-painted ceiling mural by Parisian street-artist, Beniloys, that took three months to create on site.

_{First-ever Mama Shelter bunk rooms}

Centrally located in the city state and with an ethos of affordability without sacrificing comfort, Mama Shelter Singapore should have an instant appeal for tourists valuing utility but appreciating a choice of bedrooms and a design-conscious environment.

by Sean Sheehan

Rooms from S$190+ per night, inclusive of breakfast for two guests, on bookings made before 31 August. The opening offer is valid for stays from 23 September 2025 to 28 February 2026, subject to blackout dates and availability.

For reservations, visit mamashelter.com/Singapore.

The post Get A Look At The New Mama Shelter, Singapore first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

With summertime in mind, an early Japanese note can be struck with a gin-based cocktail that is complex but artfully composed: elderflower (fermented and foraged blossom), a distillate of wasabi root and a juice made from the leaves of the shiso herb. This or one of the other crafted drinks invites slow sips either outdoors on the terrace (last orders here are taken at 18.45) or in the dining room.

To the east, Big Ben looks shiny and touristy; Nelson’s Pillar to the north and the BT Tower behind are distinctive presences; while out on the terrace, the London Eye feels alarmingly close and the tops of the Ministry of Defence buildings Kafkaesque in their blank solidity.

_{Kioku by Endo on the rooftop of The OWO}

A trolly wheeled to your table is usually reserved for carving meat, filleting fish or tempting you with desserts but at Kioku by Endo it arrives, as one of the menu’s ‘Bites’, with two different cuts of raw tuna (akami and chutoro) before mixing them with egg yolk and wasabi. Placed inside small bread rolls, they please the palette and prepare you for the food to come.

Sashimi and nigiri can be selected individually or mixed as the chef’s selection. Here, as throughout the meal, there is the delightfully changing tabelware that quality Japanese restaurants so excel at presenting. What might be unexpected is the perfect suitability of Rathfinny wines, coming from chalky Sussex soil, for the refined gracefulness of a visit to Kioku by Endo.

_{Chef Asimakis Chaniotis adds a final touch at Myrtos}

The scene at Myrtos on Brompton Road in South Kensington comes courtesy of a new, smartly attired restaurant where the décor’s nautical theme overtly evokes a warm place by the sea on a Greek island: wave-like undulations above your head, sparkling blue panels on the walls and a lovely looking olive tree in a giant pot.

The neat marble bar – curated, like its cocktails, by legendary Line in Athens – makes you want to linger and talk about holidays in the sun. The food menu is suitably Mediterranean, filled with appetisers and small plates before progressing towards the choice of a shared main dish of fish or meat. With Greek desserts and wonderful cheeses that include soft and hard ones from Kefalonia and a blue one from Ithaca, an authentic Hellenic experience awaits diners.

Myrtos is spacious but the pavement tables are appealing and not just because it’s the Greek thing to do. From them, you can see Michelin House with its glazed tiles, motor tyres on the parapet and giant lettering. Opened in 1911 as the UK headquarters of the French company, the design was artistically ahead of its time and it remains one of London’s most unusual buildings.

_{Rotunda Bar & Lounge}

When a warm summer evening suggests something less than full plates of food, head for the Rotunda Bar & Lounge at the illustrious Four Seasons Tower Bridge. Live music form Thursday to Saturday evenings adds to the charm of sitting comfortably in a splendiferous domed space, large enough to accommodate soft seating at tables as well as an outer circle of small sofas with their own low tables.

There is also a bar with stools, though this is not a place for lounge lizards but more a perch for watching some of the new signature cocktails being prepared with the finest of ingredients to produce exquisite tastes. Martinis, for instance, use a top-notch vodka from Montenegro, bergamot rosolio from Italy, touches of verjus and a very dry sherry – mixed and presented with a lychee on the side in its own small bowl of ice.

_{Martini with lychee on the side at Rotunda Bar and Lounge}

The food snacks at Rotunda Bar & Lounge are equally well-crafted, whether a chicken Japanese-flavoured bun, aubergine croquettes, yellow tail sashimi or Maldon oysters, originally of Pacific provenance and now cultivated in an Essex estuary.

There is much else besides and the passing of culinary time is marked by the more subdued lighting as evening settles in. The unobtrusive service never ruffles the prevailing air of calmness and you may end up staying here longer than anticipated.

_{Chef Dana at Jang (photo by Eleonora Boscarelli)}

The neoclassical edifice sometimes mistaken for the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, has for so long been home to financial institutions that it may come as a surprise to discover the delights of an exceptional cuisine behind its stately exterior.

Ascending a stone staircase from a corner of the ground floor, you will find Jang serving food that reflects the tremendous impact of Japan on Korea’s culinary culture and the creative interpretation of this heritage by the chef. Hailing from Gwangju in the southwest of Korea, Chef Dana’s flair and inventiveness have created a menu for Londoners’ diverse food tastes: sirloin steak is brought out in a charcoal pot that stays burning to maintain the temperature; sashimi is presented on a formidably-sized metal crocodile; ‘Jang KFC’ is enlivened with fiery gochujang sauce; vegans will love bibimbap, as classic as it gets, after asking for the egg to be omitted and adding a kimchi salad and geongyang rice.

Cocktails at Jang can include those from Engel, the large bar that also overlooks the café area on the floor of the Royal Exchange and, on Fridays and Saturdays, sushi and champagne sessions also feature at Jang.

_{Iberico Bossam Tower for two to share at Jang (photo by Eleonora Boscarelli)}

Summer is the time for seasonal pop-ups and current ones include a celebration of Château Minuty, a wine estate on the Saint-Tropez peninsula, at the Minuty Terrace at Park Hyatt, London River Thames. A new cocktail menu explores agave-based spirits at Isabel Mayfair and, staying in that London neighbourhood, a new Paloma menu at Caviar Kaspia injects summer fun into the tequila-based cocktail with the help of The London Essence Co.

by Sean Sheehan

The post Exploring Summertime Dining in London first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

You have to take the plunge, distracted by sights while dodging a perpetual flow of scooters around you. What helps is a tour on motorbike or in a faux military-style jeep, stopping for one-off experiences like a drink perched on a seat precariously close to tracks as a train hurtles past. Apparent madness and the mundane coexist in Hanoi.

_{Landmark 81 – Ho Chi Minh city}

Colonial-era buildings have been superbly preserved, now home to foreign embassies or government ministries, and admiring them up close is one of the city’s pleasures. Now mostly clustered in the vicinity of the Ho Chi Minh Memorial, streets here are more pedestrian-friendly and there’s time to take in the less frenetic cadence of a city with a thousand years of history.

_{Flowers and plants galore in the heart of a Vietnam metropolis}

Hoi Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, may at first be more familiar as a metropolis – witness its full-on coffee culture – but the food and drink scene is sensational and a food tour on foot will convince you of this. Pho will never taste as good, and then there is Anan, the first restaurant in the city to receive a Michelin star.

_{The State Bank of Vietnam}

To enjoy its jazzy vibes, a visit to Anan could begin in its darkly-lit bar area on the second floor. Guaranteed not to be easily forgotten, here is a drink with a bud of acmella oleracea – (aka Szechuan button) – pegged to the rim of your glass. The rooftop, dwarfed by high-rise edifices, is the spot for the tasting menu and its avant-garde takes on traditional Vietnamese dishes.

_{The old French quarter in Hanoi}

Vietnam Airlines is the only airline operating nonstop services between London Heathrow and both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Using 787-10 Dreamliners, the airline will also take you comfortably between the two cities.

by Sean Sheehan

For Vietnam Airlines, see vietnamairlines.com; for Hanoi tours, see hanoibackstreettours.com; for food tours in Ho Chi Minh City, see saigonstreeteats.com; for Anan restaurant, see anansaigon.com

The post Exploring the Sultry Street Life in Vietnam first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Nowadays, it is Greek chefs who travel the globe creating culinary adventures of renown and the Mar-Bella Collection applauds this with its Greek Chefs Abroad programme. Celebrating the programme’s fifth year in 2025, a star event takes place at Apaggio restaurant at Nido in Corfu on 24 July 2025.

_{Apaggio at Nido}

Just like Odysseus, Chef Takis Panagakis is returning to the island where his legendary prowess began. It began in the kitchen at Etrusco before he ventured to the Netherlands and established a reputation at Michelin-starred restaurants like Basiliek and Brouwerskolkje.

He founded Elea in The Hague – a ‘fabulous restaurant’ says the Michelin guide – trailblazing a course for fine dining influenced by Greek cuisine. From July 24, he stars at Apaggio with a menu that does justice to his renowned status.

_{Chef Takis Panagakis}

_{Dish at Apaggio}

Nido, a five-star luxury resort exclusively for adults aged 16 and over, is part of the Mar-Bella Collection on Corfu. Though only a half-hour drive from Corfu Town, the resort is tucked away into a forest-lined hillside that leads down to a pebbled beach. There are two distinctive restaurants besides Apaggio, two attractive bars and an infinity pool; suite guests enjoy additional benefits.

by Sean Sheehan

The post A Star Event with the Mar-Bella Collection 24 July in Corfu first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Having told him where she was employed, he wrote pleadingly to her and so they did meet again and formally walked out for the first time. The day was 16 June 1904 and she did stick with him for the rest of his life.

_{Bloomsday 2025}

His name was James Joyce and in his novel Ulysses he used the date for his fictional chronicle of a day in the life of Dublin. Celebrated as Bloomsday, after the name of one of the novel’s central characters, it has blossomed into a week-long programme of music, song, walks, talks and dressing up. Highlights include dramatizations from Balloonatics, the Volta theatre company and the sheer quality of Bloomsday events that I witnessed claims its presence on any 2026 travel calendar. In the meantime there is much else to do and see in this city of high culture.

Walking tours and exhibitions at the James Joyce Centre are justly renowned and equally compelling is a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland. The gallery has regular special events and pop-up talks relating to its collection which include paintings by Vermeer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and – my favourite – Goya’s portrait of Antonia Zárate. A major Picasso exhibition will open in October, through to early 2026, in collaboration with the Musée national Picasso-Paris.

_{Anantara The Marker facing the Grand Canal and the Daniel Libeskind-designed Bord Gais Energy Theatre}

I stayed at Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel, part of the famed Thai luxury hotel brand, where its cultural awareness is ably matched by top class creature comforts. The hotel’s design-conscious exterior faces a pedestrianized plaza that lights up at night with glowing red light sticks and the absence of motor traffic makes strolling around a pleasure.

The calmness of the locality (avoid show nights at the nearby theatre) – two kilometres from the city centre – is best appreciated on the rooftop with views of the Wicklow Hill to the south and seabirds gliding overhead, occasionally squawking but devoid of Hitchcockian menace. The sedum rooftop scene – with raised beds of grasses and flowers, with alliums and poppies at the edges – is enhanced by sufficient choices of bar food and cocktails to keep you there until dusk or later.

Asian inflections considerably elevate the bar food –scallops with yuzo; wagyu beef with wasabi, sashimi tuna; prawns with a Thai sauce – and the hotel’s cocktails distinguish themselves; a demure martini is politely boosted with umami flavour, courtesy of kombu seaweed.

The Marker’s main restaurant, Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins, celebrates the best of Irish produce from the land and sea (making vegetarian choices limited) and the quality of the dry-aged beef from County Longford and the lamb from County Wexford is excellent. The dining space is an open-plan, airy one and, as with the bedrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows maximize natural light.

_{A literary touch to Afternoon Tea at Anantara The Marker}

The indoor pool is generously sized at over 20 metres and at the Anantara Spa, another highlight, treatments harness ocean plants and there’s a choice of massages and a wide range of facials. Ireland’s literary culture is feted at The Marker with its unique Afternoon Tea. A gloriously colourful array of cakes is part of a multi-coursed, three-hour affair where literary moments are folded into the food and drink. This is no ordinary afternoon tea: come with a thirst for Ireland’s literary culture and an appetite for more than scones and cream.

Ireland’s culture is steeped in music and song and this finds exuberant salutations in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It can take on a carnival atmosphere at weekends and maybe is better experienced on a quieter mid-week evening, before or after a meal somewhere more sedate. Lemon & Duke is a sound bet with tables outside in the shade.

My companion’s eye was drawn to a Chablis on the wine list and hailed the gambas with cod and I was pleased at finding vegan starters, main dishes and desserts – infinitely preferable to queuing up for a table at touristy places on nearby Grafton Street.

_{Relaxing, far from Temple Bar’s maddening crowds, at Ruby Molly}

Ruby Molly is a new hotel across the River Liffey, less than a ten-minute walk from Temple Bar but miles away from its occasional raucousness. Self check-in using a tablet on the desk is painless if preliminaries are already completed online; beds are comfortable, the rooms have a neat design and are not to be denigrated by labelling them funky.

Tea and coffee is self-service from a galley on each floor but there’s a large bar and lounge area in the lobby area where breakfast (if chosen) is served. It’s all very urban chic and hands-off but works very well if most of your time is to be spent outside on a literary safari with the new edition of The Ulysses Guide and its well-charted walking tours. If anything will motivate dipping into Ulysses, it will be walking with this book in hand across the streets of Dublin.

by Sean Sheehan

The post Glass visits Dublin and finds a culture galore first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

The word, referring to the architectural form of a home built for wealthy families, comes from the Arabic for ‘garden’, an open-air space making up an interior courtyard around which rooms were constructed. Nowadays, the courtyards have been creatively preserved and enhanced by designers keen to showcase traditional Moroccan arts and crafts. At Riad Maison Bleue, to take a fine example, the courtyard now facilitates a small swimming pool and citrus trees.

_{Elegeant interiors in the riads of Fes}

Fes has thousands of narrow, alley-like streets threading past ochre-coloured, lime-and-sand walls and first impressions after leaving them behind to step into a riad through a nondescript door is sheer wonder: a sudden transformation into a mesmerizing space of dappled light and private splendour.

Essential to the marvel of the riad as pure spectacle is the vibrant mosaic tilework, commissioned by the original homeowners but immensely well preserved and restored across centuries of time. The tilework adorns walls and floors and it displays intricate geometric arrangements of floral motifs and polygons.

Equally splendid are stucco decorations featuring calligraphic motifs and elaborately carved patterns in cedar wood that are found by looking up at the ceilings above you. In a riad like La Maison Bleue, this artistic brilliance is complemented by creature comforts in bedrooms, a spa, hammam and gym as well as a lounge, bar and a fine restaurant.

_{Lemon tress around the pool in Riad La Maison Bleue’s courtyard}

The best riads will also offer cooking classes, usually beginning with a shopping trip to the medina to purchase essential ingredients for a classic Moroccan dish. The country’s cuisine, evolving from Berber, Arabic and Mediterranean influences, features in most restaurants and there is also an evolving wine culture.

This may seem surprising but Morocco is full of surprises and wine production goes back to the the Romans when northern Morocco became one of their far-flung provinces (and then the French, colonizing the country, brought their own viticulture). Any scepticism about the quality of the local wines will be challenged when tasting a white or red from Château Roslane, the first wine estate in North Africa (some 60km south of Fes) to bear an Appellation d’Origine Protégée designation.

_{Jowee Omicil}

I was in Fes for its annual Festival of World Sacred Music, a major event and one far less ethereal than its name might suggest. Stretching over more than a week, programmes are stunningly eclectic and this year it included drummers from Burundi, classical music from Azerbaijan, griot-inspired performances from Mali, Gregorian chants from a Swiss ensemble and – the spellbinding highlight – the virtuosic Jowee Omicil and his band.

He appeared on stage carrying two saxophones, a cornet and a bag of smaller instruments which I couldn’t even identify. Performing their album Spiritual Healing: Bwa Kayiman Freedom Suite, the band blends Afro-Haitian rhythms with contemporary jazz. Like Château Roslane wines, Jowee Omicil’s presence is alive and well in France and Germany but not (yet) in the UK. Omicil’s eagerly awaited new album, sMiLes, is planned for release before the end of this year.

_{Handcrafted and ready to wear in Fes}

Staying in a riad in Fes is a wonderfully quiet experience and the interlacing walkways threading through the city’s historic quarter, the medina, are too narrow for pedestrians to be plagued by armadas of mopeds and the like. Nonetheless, the medina is a bustling affair and sooner or later an escape from urban clamour will beckon.

It takes only 40 minutes on an express train – a little longer by car – to reach Meknes, once also a capital of Morocco. Imposing city walls seem to be everywhere, there are cobbled streets to wander down in the old Jewish quarter (Morocco welcomed Jews when they were expelled from Spain in 1492) and architectural wonders to behold like the Bab Mansour Gate and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail.

On the outer reaches of their empire, the Romans built a city, Volubilis, which was later buried by an earthquake and only uncovered in the early 20^th century. With its triumphal arch, temple, basilica and well-preserved mosaics, Volubilis is a little-known but unmissable archaeological site and it is only a short distance outside Meknes.

_{Arsts and crafts in Fes and Meknes}

Everyone knows about Marrakech but Fez and Meknes make a remarkable and in many ways more fascinating alternative. They are less hurried places, offering enticing riads, ancient histories brought alive and a music festival of truly world renown.

by Sean Sheehan

See here for some of the architecturally most distinguished riads in Fes and here for Riad Maison Bleue. For listening to Omicil’s Spiritial Healing album, see here. Fes can now be reached on direct flights from London’s Stansted airport and Stansted Express, running every 15 minutes between London Liverpool Street and the airport, can be booked online at www.stanstedexpress.com. Trains between Fes and Meknes can be booked online through  www.moroccotrains.com

The post Glass is fascinated by Fez and Meknes first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

The panoramas are better than those from The Shard’s viewing platform because you are in the heart of the city and not just looking at it from the other side of the Thames. Gazing down on the bloated 20 Fenchurch building confirms its walkie-talkie appearance, merely the plaything of an oversized child.

_{The Sushi Bar at Lucky Cat, 22 Bishopsgate}

Darkness reigns inside Lucky Cat – predictable enough for a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, some might say – but I was there as twilight was deepening into a night sky and a lunchtime visit, with natural light flooding in through the large windows, will be a different experience. Whatever the time of your arrival, there is the sensation inside the restaurant of being ensconced in a stationary drone, staring down at what lies below.

The menu, designed for sharing with chopsticks, kicks off with sparkly starters like crunchy Kyoto cucumbers with sesame and spiced-up edamame. Japanese affiliations predominate in what follows– tempura, sushi, lots of sashimi – but to think of Lucky Cat as a Japanese restaurant would be misleading: the oysters are Gillardeau, the wagyu is Australian and lamb chops feature alongside lobster siu mai.

The rooftop level above, on the 61^st floor, will be opening soonish as a terrace bar so the prospect of going even higher in the sky beckons.

_{Views from Lucky Cat, looking across at The Shard}

Lucky Cat can be loud with a DJ belting out music and busyness around the bar area. Not so at Mei Ume, at the Four Seasons Hotel at Tower Bridge, where on a quiet evening a pin dropping to the floor might feel like a noisy intrusion.

The presence in the restaurant of Corinthian columns suggests stateliness but floral touches lighten the scene and the overall atmosphere is one of unstuffy, aristocratic calm. It befits the grandeur of the early twentieth-century building you have entered, at its best in the magnificent domed lobby where softly played live music sets the Four Seasons tone of quietly asserted classiness.

_{Mei Ume excels in celebrating Japanese food}

Mei Ume celebrates Japanese and Chinese food so smoked Peking duck and abalone compete for attention with moriawase and nigiri. Deserted at short notice by my companion, I was dining alone and deprived of taking advantage of the intriguing combinations available from the à la carte menu. The silver lining, however, came with the realization that Japanese cuisine might be at its most sublime and exquisite when enjoyed alone.

_{Mei Ume}

The restaurant excels when it comes to pairing sake and French wines with Asian food. Its cocktails are the usual mix of the expected and the eclectic and, delighted at finding pisco on the drinks menu, I enquired about El Capitán. The bar was not familiar with this cocktail but undeterred did some quick research and produced one that in Peru, from my memory of  experiencing it there, would be appreciated as expertly prepared.

The building that houses Saison was the government headquarters of the British Army between 1857 and 1964. An historic edifice, its location at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall is tremendously iconic. Now known as the Old War Office (OWO), it is home to an illustriously-named hotel: Raffles London at The OWO. Inside, you are awed by a most imposing grand staircase until a dimensional change occurs when stepping into Saison restaurant.

It is modestly sized and attractively decorated with a large mural evoking a pastoral, Mediterranean landscape. This perfectly sets the scene for the food which is to follow, overseen by superstar Mauro Colagreco but with a new head chef who is gradually establishing his culinary presence with his own creations on the menu. One of these, using the seasonal availability of white asparagus, arrives so artistically arranged that the deployment of shapes and colours – courtesy of the vegetable, blood orange and bottarga – transforms the plate into a Miró painting.

_{Sublimely Mediterranean at Saison in Raffles London}

The wine list at Saison shines with its selection of bottles from estates in the Mediterranean region but Burgundy is not forgotten and you will also find a dozen or so different Chablis worth considering. It also has surprises, like a fine Chardonnay from Argentina, a 2021 Zuccardi, pale lemon in colour and taste-pleasingly austere with an artichoke salad or lobster Bolognese. Many of the ingredients are sourced nationally, from Cornwall to Hampshire, but the spirit of Saison and its inspiration is the Riviera.

by Sean Sheehan

Lucky Cat is on the 60^th floor at 22 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4BQ.

Mei Ume is at Four Seasons Hotel London, 10 Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4AJ.

Saison is in Raffles London at The OWO, 57 Whitehall, London SW1A 2BX

The post Very high, very sublime and very Mediterranean: Glass goes to Lucky Cat, Mei Ume and Saisons first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

In the film, the character played by Julia Roberts, sets out on a personal, worldwide odyssey to find herself and this has been imaginatively translated into a trio of experiences available at Shangri-La hotels.

_{Shangri-La Dubai Eat – Dim Sum masterclass at Shang Palace}

Guests – solo travellers, families, and couples alike – select one Eat, one Play and one Love signature experience per night, based on joy, adventure and self-discovery. For example, at Shangri-La The Shard in London, you can hand-pick seasonal ingredients from Borough Market with one of the hotel’s chefs before enjoying a bespoke meal back at the hotel (Eat) or take a guided walking tour to experience the city like a local (Play) or practice self-(Love) and unwind in a rose-petal bath with a view, prepared by a Bath Butler.

_{Shangri-La Mauritius Love – Island Indulgence Chi The Spa Coco ritual}

_{Shangri-La Paris – Pique Nique Chic with private butler}

In ‘the city of love, Paris, you enjoy a massage and the spa’s pool, a picnic with a private butler and a tour of Montmarte on foot and in a vintage French car. Further afield, in Istanbul, India, Indian Ocean, the UK and the Americas, experiences are similarly curated to suit the location. Love the summer is the message worth taking to heart.

by Sean Sheehan

_{For more information, see Eat Play Love}

The post Eat, Play and Love around the world at Shangri-La Hotels first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

It is Locke’s 17^th property and the location, on the southern bank of the Seine in the 5^th arrondissement, is as hard to beat as the variety in 11 different categories across its 145 rooms: studios and family rooms, designed by edyn, sit alongside two signature suites thought up by Fettle.

_{Out and about in the 5th arrondissement}

_{A warm-looking reception area at Le Jardin de Verre by Locke}

The neighbourhood’s heritage is integral to the identity of a property that incorporates a 20^th-century industrial factory and an 18^th-century Parisian residence. The terracotta floor of the main entrance is enlivened by colourful furnishings and verdant foliage while concrete columns and restored factory metalwork bear testimony to the past. The street address, Rue de Lacépède, was famous in its time for grand public gardens and natural light is at play in the aparthotel’s courtyard atrium.

_{East living for a short or extended stay}

_{The simplicity of style}

Studio apartments feature fitted kitchens and provide more space than the usual hotel room and, soon to come, will be an on-site gym and yoga studio and a boardroom for meetings and events. This summer will see the opening of a restaurant in the atrium with a bar, a dedicated cocktail bar, wine counter and a terrace.

by Sean Sheehan

_{Opening rates from 275 EUR per night for a City Studio with a balcony. More information on Le Jardin de Verre by Locke can be found at www.lockeliving.com/en/paris/le-jardin-de-verre-by-locke}

The post Bonjour Paris! Stylish, luxury aparthotel opens by Locke first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Driving away from Muscat’s airport, expect to see hundreds of date palms lining the road, not glitzy high-rise cityscapes, and a large frankincense tree outside the nearby luxury-brand Amouage perfumery. Frankincense is abundant in Oman, although the trees are under threat in the small number of other places where they grow, and the subtle but earthy fragrance of the aromatic resin epitomises the appeal of this country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian peninsula.

_{A view from Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort}

The capital, Muscat, a jumble of low-rise suburbs that stretch for over 30km and enclose a formless city centre, may not pique your interest. Jebel-Akhdar (‘Green Mountain’), two hours away, is an immeasurably more rewarding destination: an 80-km-long plateau just over 2000m high, framed by the Hajar Mountains and reachable in 4WD vehicles.

Lying on the plateau’s foothills are  the evocative remains – crumbling ruins, passageways and an ancient irrigation system (falaj) – of Birkat Al Mouz. Adjoining the modern town of Birkat, the abandoned  villagers’ homes – some fifty of them built of clay and mud – seem doomed to a slow extinction but one of them, Bait al Sabah, has been restored as a charming heritage inn – hopefully setting an example for more extensive restoration of a location that reaches back to the seventeenth century.

_{The traditional village of Misfat al Abriyeen, better known as Misfah}

Atop the Green Mountain, the village of Al-Aqar is where you can wander through a pomegranate orchard, walnut trees over a century old and small rose plantations (for rose water). A viewpoint is close by for watching sunsets and spotting fossils in the slate rock.

Five-star hotels are well established on the plateau, including Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort where  the bedrooms profit from views of immensely dramatic canyon vistas.

_{Arts and crafts in Nizwa}

The descent down from the Green Mountain accesses the capital of Oman’s interior, Nizwa. This ancient town and the region has beguiling suggestions of an Arabian past that is in danger of being lost to modernity. The pretty but partly gentrified souks, a shopping mall in their own way, are where craft items – leatherwork, pottery, copperware and the traditional rounded Omani caps – are on sale.

From Nizwa, it only takes 40 minutes to visit Al Hamra, a superbly well-preserved old town with a lovely oasis below it that can be strolled through. Walking through the abandoned quarter of Al Hamra  feels a little like being in Pompeii  – a spot of past time preserving an uncanny presence of  lives once lived – although it was inhabited until only a couple of decades ago.

A characterful place to spend a night in Nizwa is recently opened Bait Al Mualleminn, a restored 400-year-old home with two suites and original features in the them that include ceiling timbers engraved with Arabic sayings; a neat spiral staircase accesses a terrace overlooking the old town.

It is almost worth planning an itinerary around being in Nizwa for the Friday-morning livestock market when goats, some very stylish in appearance, are perambulated in a circle by their owners, calling out their minimum prices and inviting higher bids.

_{Chandlier at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat}

The traditional village of Misfat al Abriyeen, better known as Misfah, is less than an hour from Nizwa and this is the quaintest village in the region. Seen from below its rocky 900-m-location, Misfah has a medieval, rugged look, like one of those tranquil inland villages seen from afar in Liguria.

Stepped, unordered stone-built dwellings, well over a century old, fill the crooked alleys where you might think you could get lost but cannot really because of the small scale of the place (only some 500 people live here). Standing on the terrace of the first guesthouse and restaurant to open here, Misfah Old House, you are at eye level with the top of a small oasis of date palms.

Flowers of the fruitless male trees are tied in string and placed inside female trees to pollinate them – the farming of dates has unique procedures, seen at close quarters from the terrace. Around Misfah, pomegranates, figs and mangoes are also farmed thanks to the same intricate, spring-fed irrigation system in Birkat Al Mouz.

_{An oasis of date palms}

Muscat, your arrival and departure point, is where at least one day will be spent and there is the assurance of 5-star accommodation and restaurants. The grand Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque deserves to be seen for its outstanding architecture and spectacular chandelier with Swarovski crystals and  fine gold plated metalwork.

For the wealth of other places to see and things to do in Oman, the 2024 edition of Rough Guide Oman earns a place in your luggage and Experience Oman is full of practical information.

by Sean Sheehan

The post Glass takes it easy in Oman first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

The night could be spent here in a room or suite, with a bouquet of flowers, rose petals and a bottle of Champagne awaiting your arrival, and breakfast either in-room or at TING restaurant. For a restaurant visit alone, TING has a Valentine Day’s four-course menu on the 14^th or 15^th February.

_{Shangri-La, The Shard}

_{Valentine Day’s at GONG}

Three levels below, the highest hotel bar in Western Europe, GŎNG, is another tempting proposition with a sharing menu of delectable bites. Or, for an afternoon romantic rendezvous, there is Love is in the Air afternoon tea in collaboration with Jo Loves and including the signature Shard dessert with Valrhona Dulce chocolate.

_{Love is in the Air afternoon tea}

_{Shangri-La, The Shard}

by Sean Sheehan

_{Overnight stays, including breakfast, from £800. Valentine’s Day menu on the 14th and 15^th is £210 per person; to book, visit: ting-shangri-la.com: GŎNG Bar’s Valentine’s dining experience for two, from 13th to 15th February. is £498; to book, visit: gong-shangri-la.com. Love is in the Air afternoon tea, from February 13^th until the end of May, is £78 per person; to book, visit ting-shangri-la.com. For the ultimate, pop-the-question experience, visit shangri-la.com/london/shangrila/weddings-celebrations/proposals-at-the-shard/}  

The post Cupid in the Sky at Shangri-La The Shard first appeared on The Glass Magazine.