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Retail Therapy
The Island Hotel Newport Beach, California, USAThis area, Fashion Circle, is retail and gourmet heaven. Head straight for Bristol Farms - the organic supermarket that even makes Whole Foods seem yesteryear. Buy your picnic supplies, and head for the beaches for the day, or stick around and shop. You have, within a few minutes' walk, Bloomingdale's, Neiman-Marcus and the divine Water Works bathroom emporium. The 295-room hotel, five minutes away, can do all necessary packing and shipping (ask GM Ray Jacobi for a pool-facing room, and enjoy that pool, with a working fire at the far end).Visit Property Site |   |
Kids love a stretch-limo shopping rip. FAO Schwartz offers a bespoke personal shopper, young ladies adore American Girl Place, and Berkley Girl has great gear for six to 16-year olds. Best place for iPods and computers is the 24-hour Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. At the 190-room hotel, run by James McBride - father of an exciting youngster - suite 2806 comes with its own private gym. Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band play in Café Carlyle on Monday nights. Visit Property Site | |
Every gentleman can be suitably outfitted here, and concierge Colin Short shares - for the first time - some of his favorites, who often open out of hours exclusively for guests of The Lanesborough. He can book The Refinery, Truefitt and Hill and Trumpers for shaves and spas. For bespoke tailors, he suggests Dunhill, Gieves & Hawkes, Henry Poole & Co, James & James or Richard Anderson - and so on. At the 95-room hotel, the most popular rooms overlook adjacent Hyde Park. Managing Director is Geoffrey Gelardi. Visit Property Site | |
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Avenue Montaigne is becoming the focal hub of Paris style, with Chrome Hearts jeweler, Dolce et Gabbana, Jimmy Choo and Valentino within a few minutes' walk (and Giorgio Armani and Fendi are arriving shortly). Concierge Jean-Claude Elgaire, who has been here since 1958, can ask any of them to open out of hours. The hotel, run by General Manager François Delahaye, has 188 rooms and fashionistas love the seventh and eighth floors, for original fashion art work (the 1,300 sq ft Eiffel Suite has a 280 sq ft terrace facing the Eiffel Tower). Visit Property Site | |
The Brioni showcase in the main lobby of this ultra-elegant 112-room hotel shows what is the latest in high fashion, for men and women (Brioni's CEO Umberto Angeloni is often in the highly-popular seventh floor rooftop bar - he is usually in intelligent conversation, although he may be thinking of a next book to follow his successful works on buttonholes, and Scotch single malts). Anna Zegna, image director of Ermenegildo Zegna, is another close friend of the hotel. And - a WOW scoop - hotel Managing Director Marcel Levy might be able to suggest a bespoke handmade shirt maker. Visit Property Site | |
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Four Seasons Hotel Milano, Milan, ItalyThe 118-room hotel is right in the Triangolo d'Oro, the golden triangle of Italian couture, and General Manager Vincenzo Finizzola has a team of personal shoppers who know exactly which boutiques are best for you. Brioni, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci are among the many names that stay open late, will alter as required and deliver, in time, directly to the hotel. One of the fun things here, by the way, is people-watching - Donatella Versace's Milan home is four doors down via Gesu (although she is often at her Lake Como villa, or traveling). Visit Property Site | |
This 114-room lifestyle hotel, in the Landmark complex in Central, is surrounded by shops, from the largest Armani store in Asia, the first Harvey Nichols store outside the UK, and the original Shanghai Tang shop. You also have the new four-floor Gucci store, plus Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Dunhill, Fendi, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Valentino, Vivienne Tam - all within a few minutes (afterwards, relax in the hotel's 21,000 sq ft Oriental Spa, with a pool opening in the next few weeks). General Manager is Susanne Hatje. Visit Property Site | |
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