
Get in bed with Giorgio
No sooner does one fashion week end, so another begins. We’ve hit New York and London and this week it’s off to bella Milano we go. You can drink with Donatella, fawn over Ferragamo, but you’ll find a string of beauties getting into bed with Giorgio at the new Armani Hotel Milano. With 95 sophisti-chic rooms and suites in his signature less-is-more beige and bronze aesthetic, plus soothing spa, complete with pool, all in the middle of designer retail land, it’s the ideal shop and flop spot this season.
Via Manzoni 31, Milan. T: +39 02 8883 8888. W: milan.armanihotels.com

The whole sea-bang at J. Sheekey
The leggy lovelies have arrived across the pond, strutting up a storm with non-stop fashion action at London’s Somerset House. When you need respite from the parade of new faces and willowy figures, there’s nothing quite like a glass of champagne and a half dozen oysters at nearby J. Sheekey Oyster Bar, a stiletto’s toss from the tents. It’s the perfect waistline-friendly pitstop to recharge between shows, and has proved season after season to be the chicest star on the circuit.
28-34 St. Martin’s Court, Covent Garden, London. T: +44 020 7240 2565. W: jsheekeyoysterbar.co.uk

Fashion crème de la crème lie just beyond the velvet rope
New York’s loveliest and leggiest will soon strut off the Big Apple’s runways for autumn/winter 2012, but the fashiony fun has only just begun with our European faves London, Milan and Paris next on the map. If you’re in the city that never sleeps however, cosy up to a supermodel for a chance to get into Chinatown hotspot Le Baron, where André Saraiva (ex-The Beatrice Inn and Kenmare) has brought Paris’ most fashionable party to NYC. Although photography is strictly forbidden, know that good times await inside this louche 70s-style Saigon lounge, just remember kittens – dress to kill.
32 Mulberry Street, New York, USA. W: clublebaron.com
Yes, we know it is a Hallmark Holiday, but it’s also the perfect time to indulge in some romantic R&R and spoil your better half with something a little more original than a hastily bought, overpriced bouquet of red roses. Boring. Instead, why not gift one of our sleek and sexy box sets with all those cities you plan to visit together?

What’s in your little Black box? Ours is full of surprises and we let you decide!
To help you plan your mini break or major vacation, we’ve put together five hotels guaranteed to light your beloved’s fire, from palm-fringed hideaway to Venetian palazzo. And it couldn’t be easier, just a few clicks away online at the LUXE City Guides Hotel & Villa Booking Site.

Cambodia joins the international luxury resort circuit
Hello young (and old) lovers, wherever you are! Looking for a far-flung island retreat to celebrate V-day (and beyond) in style? Well, you’re in luck, just look to the new Song Saa Private Island, Cambodia’s first five-star luxury island getaway, spread across two previously untouched isles in the Koh Rong archipelago, just a half-hour boat ride from the coastal town of Sihanoukville. White sand, blue sky, crystal clear waters, plentiful marine life, and with Song Saa meaning ‘sweethearts’ in Khmer, it’s your ticket to some serious spoon ‘n’ cocoon time.

See you at the bottom for a hot choccy
If you’ve been huddling under the duvet trying to beat the winter blues, you may not have heard. LUXE has teamed up with Singapore Airlines to bring you a fab monthly column on their new silverkris.com website, as well as in their inflight mag, where we tell you the LUXE-iest way to spend 24 hours in some of our favourite destinations.
This month, we hit the slopes of Japan’s Niseko. This skier’s paradise has everything a snow bunny could want – excellent on and off-piste tracks, luxurious accommodation, delicious local cuisine, soothing natural hot springs, and snowfall that seriously puts the POW in powder.
Don’t forget, silverkris.com readers can score two guides for the price of one with the LUXE Tokyo & Niseko App, as well as 15% off all LUXE City Guides and Box Sets. We are also giving away 5 fabulous nights at Niseko’s premier property, Suiboku. So get your boots on and get registered.
In Destination MO: LUXE Founder Grant Thatcher on Spending Chinese New Year in Hong Kong
BY The LUXE Editors
Here’s to a cracking Year of the Dragon [Photo: Alamy/Destination MO]
Dear hearts, if you’re in Hong Kong over Chinese New Year, you just lucked out. Traditionally, the holiday is a time for families to gather at home to eat, drink, and eat some more, which means the usually frantic city is gloriously peaceful, and all yours to explore. What’s more, this year’s zodiac is the prime symbol of good fortune, so what better fortuity could befall you than to be in Hong Kong to meet that Dragon? As ever, we love to share our faves with you Leggy Lovelies, so here are some top tips on what to see, do and eat in the Fragrant Harbour, compiled for Mandarin Oriental’s Destination MO magazine by the man behind LUXE City Guides, Grant Thatcher. Kung hei fat choi, darlings!
Want more fab tips on Hong Kong? Check out the LUXE Hong Kong guide, or download the handy app with maps.
Marble-lous [Photo: szgmc.ae]
Happy Friday, poppets! For today’s travel inspiration, we whip along to Dubai’s sensible big brother, Abu Dhabi, for the architecturally mind blowing Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. At 22,412 square metres, the imposing site is equivalent to five football fields and big enough to accommodate 40,000 worshippers – it is in fact the largest mosque outside of Mecca. You’re bound to need a little R&R after tottering around, so head to the shiny show-stopper Rocco Forte Hotel for the spa and hamman, or go straight for the Blue cocktail bar in the 11-storey glass atrium, complete with panoramas of the twinkling city below.

Grand ol' reception featuring five of the said pillars
If historical, old-world elegance tickles your fancy but you can’t do without your luxury mod cons, then be sure to check out (or into) the beautiful 137 Pillars House boutique hotel. Set a block back from Chiang Mai’s Mae Ping River, this 19th century former teak residence of the manager of the East Borneo Company, has been transformed into a charming 30-suite getaway in the ‘Rose of the North’.

Whoosh you were here...
Dear hearts, forget about post-holiday blues, it’s time to start planning your next trip, and this week, we’re dreaming of whooshing down the slopes of Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, with the stunning Matterhorn as backdrop. After a worryingly slow start to the 2011/2012 ski season, it finally began to snow heavily before Christmas and it’s still snowing. Bed down right in the centre of town at the sleek, chic and spacious Zur Matte B apartments, which are great value despite the strength of the Swiss Franc. What’s more, guests have complimentary access to the fabulous pool and spa facilities of swank neighbour Mont Cervin Palace hotel. Zermatt has plenty of good restaurants, and one of our favourite meals of 2011 was at the mountain restaurant Zum See – we’re still drooling over their sweetbreads with morel cream sauce and noodles, and save room for the Napoleon slice too. Skis on!






