United Kingdom

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in the United Kingdom, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

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Artesian at The Langham London

“Your room or mine?” Carla asks me straight out, in the middle of the Langham London’s Artesian. I make a mental note to test her other preferences as soon as humanly possible before succumbing to her proposal

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Solange Berchemen reviews The Gallivant Hotel in East Sussex, a hotel that puts sustainability front and centre.

The Gallivant Hotel. Sustainable has never looked so good.

It was 5.00pm and I was interviewing Mark O’Reilly, manager of The Gallivant Hotel when he stopped in mid sentence to point enthusiastically at a white van pulling up in the car-park. “This is the fish for tonight, it was caught this morning”, he said.

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Anna Smith reports back on the Standon Calling Festival in deepest Hertfordshire Ella Eyre Gaelle 03

Standon Calling Festival. Discover A Fantastic Family Favourite.

For years I’ve been searching for the ideal boutique UK festival, with that magical mix of location, size, facilities, bands and sideshows. Just when I find one – like The Big Chill or Wilderness – it gets a little too big for comfort. Too many queues, tents crammed in together, lost friends… So this summer, Standon Calling came to me and my festival friends. How did it fare?

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Ognisko dining room

Ognisko London. A delicious taste of Poland in south Kensington

Sausage and gherkins come more readily to mind than gastronomic delights as stereotypes of Polish food, but Ognisko is forcing diners to reconsider their perceptions.

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Martin Milesis   fake potato  with mushroom earth black olives and corn

UNA Supper Club. Brilliant concept dining location at St Pancras.

It’s the hardest restaurant to find your way into, in spite of its familiarity as a London landmark. Who’d have thought you could eat dinner inside George Gilbert Scott’s clock tower atop St. Pancras station? It actually houses a private penthouse whose Gothic tower enjoys a sometime alter ego as UNA, a South American supper club becoming one of the hottest tickets in town.

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The Glasshouse hotel

The Glasshouse Hotel. An amazing Edinburgh Tardis.

The Glasshouse Hotel  is something of a Tardis: walking past the beautiful old church near Edinburgh’s iconic Calton Hill, you’d have no idea that the facade leads into a modern 77 room hotel, beautifully designed to both compliment the traditional exterior and to make the most of its scenic setting.

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