So now we know.

All of us who have ever assumed that staff at shops in our airports asking to see and record details of our boarding cards were obliged to do it for security or official reasons were very wrong. It is just so that the likes of Boots, WH Smith and Dixons Travel can avoid paying the 20% VAT on goods purchased when we fly to destinations outside the EC, passing none of the extra millions they are making onto us, their valued customers.

The revelations by the Independent newspaper, and published in every other public-spirited newspaper has already led to some travellers now refusing to show their boarding cards, a number that will hopefully grow as passengers realise the depth and extent of the gratuitous deceit. Continue reading →

Police have been investigating allegations of fraud since last October at venue operator SMG Europe.

The company operates, from its head office in the Manchester Arena, nine UK venues comprising the Arenas in Belfast, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle as well as the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the York Barbican in York, the Playhouse at Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, and the Baths Hall and Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe. It also operates two venues in Germany and one in Poland. The SMG parent company in the US operates more than 220 venues across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile and the Caribbean. Continue reading →

o A new five-star 225-bedroom Central London hotel with meetings spaces, the Great Scotland Yard, is due to open in early 2017.

Operated by Steigenberger Hotel Group the Edwardian Grade Two listed building was the HQ of the Metropolitan Police for 61 years until 1890 when it was used by the Army and, until 2013, as the library for the Ministry of Defence. The £110 million property, located close to Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament is now owned by Indian billionaire Yusuffali Kader, and with some luxury suites on sale for a reported £10,000 a night could make a perfect retreat for MPs on expenses.

o Skelwith Leisure (Raithwaite) Ltd, the owners of the four-star Raithwaite Hall hotel and golf venue near Whitby, Yorkshire, appointed administrators for the company last month. At the same time Skelwith (Leisure) Ltd, which was planning a hotel, shops and more than 2,200 new homes on a site at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, Yorkshire, announced that it was seeking provisional liquidation.

Both are legal devices commonly used to shield companies from creditors and allow debts to be written off. The assets of the company can then be sold without the liabilities.

Both companies are part of Skelwith Group Ltd and the chief executive of all three, according to Companies House records, is Paul James Ellis.

Waddesdon Manor, the opulent French chateaux style Buckinghamshire home of the famous Rothschild banking and wine-producing family for four generations, was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 and opened to the public in 1959.

In 1994 the Wine Cellars at the Manor were opened for the storage of more than 15.000 bottles of Rothschild wine, including some dating from 1868 and examples of what are considered to be two of the world’s finest wines, Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The cellars are offered to organisers for tutored informal, reception-style wine-tastings of Rothschild wines for up to 60 people and formal seated tastings for up to 36, prices dependent on range and names of wines selected. Continue reading →

According to Conde Nast Traveller magazine “Finding Molton Brown in your hotel bathroom is the mark of a fine property. You know you’re in for a good stay” Well, we certainly found this the case on a recent press visit to the elegant 161-bedroom, five-star Hotel Palacio Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera coast, 20 kilometres and minutes west of Lisbon and two minutes walk to the beach, with a large outside swimming pool as another option for bathers.

As well as the top-end toiletries, the big fluffy towels and the choice of bath or giant shower stall in the spacious marbled bathrooms, the cosy feeling of a good stay was definitely enhanced, for this Brit, by the complimentary tea and coffee facilities supplied. Those who like to play golf have a 27-hole course (18 holes are international standard) with driving range and putting green around a kilometre away. And within the hotel, for those who just love some indulgent pampering, is a “Sanctuary for the Senses” Banyan Tree Asian Spa offering nearly fifty different treatments and massages for Sir and Madam, as well as the nearby Estoril Wellness Centre for more beauty treatments and classes in yoga and pilates. Continue reading →