Stay Chic The Hoxton Urban Lodge serves cocktails in front of a roaring log fire. All rooms have great designer touches, such as quality linen, flat screen TVs, free WiFi, Aveda products and a Pret a Manger breakfast. And there’s the link – the Hoxton Hotel belongs to Sinclair Beecham, the man who put a Pret on every London street. Fed up with ripoff city hotels, he decided to open a lower cost alternative. www.hoxtonhotels.com. Just around the corner at White Cube www. whitecube.com, in Hoxton Square there are works in glass by Josiah McElheny, and for night life look no further than the hotel’s Hoxton Grille, the Real Greek, www.therealgreek.com, or the Great Eastern Dining Rooms, www.greateasterndining. co.uk, for pan-Asian food.
swiss-image.ch/Christoph Schuerpf
Need an excuse to visit London’s newest cool area? Then check out the Hoxton Hotel - five minutes walk from the City and close to Jay Jopling’s trendy White Cube gallery. There are clubs and art workshops, vintage fashion boutiques, up and coming young designers, plus excellent cafes and bars.
Four Seasons Milan © Peter Vitale
london - Hoxton, The Urban Lodge
B asel – C ity of Art
© Basel Tourismus By-line: swiss-image.ch
For an easy weekend break that cuts a contrast, check out Basel. With its cool line up of galleries and wonderful nightlife Basle is Switzerland for the 21st century. Although the Old Town and the Munster are pretty, and the Kunstmuseum is the largest art gallery in Switzerland, it’s the cutting edge Kunsthalle that turns heads. With a continuous programme of leading contemporary artists, the gallery buzzes with excitement. Located opposite the city’s fashionable Stadttheater, the Kunsthalle also features an outdoor exhibition of kinetic sculptures by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Chic Stay For an architectural experience try the Hotel Rochat, built to look like a Medieval fortress. www.hotelrochat.com. Alternatively the Au Violon is a contemporary hotel inside the Old Town’s ancient prison. In fact most of the guest rooms are knocked together cells … www.au-violon.com
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