World Leaks

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EVER wondered where the rich and famous stay on holiday? Well we’ve been given an insight into their absolute favourite hotels around the world and they are pretty spectacular.

Paces with the most unforgettable food, cutting-edge design, and immersive experiences have been awarded a place on Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Best Hotels list for 2024.

These are the top eight hotels on the list:

1. The Lodge at Bodego Bay, California

A relaxed hotel along California’s Sonoma coast, guests here like to take day trips to local vineyards and stroll the empty beaches. 

The property came in for high praise for its ocean shell massages, signature breakfast sandwich and thoughtful details like a pair of binoculars in every room for guests to take in the ocean views. 

2. The Ritz-Carlton, Doha

Qatar’s newish Ritz Carlton was number two on the list thanks to its sea view gym, indoor tennis courts and luxury hammam spa. 

But also for the jaw-dropping flashiness in the interior, including the largest chandelier in the Middle East. 

3. Hermann Bungalows, Palm Springs, California

This chic Mid Century ‘hotel within a hotel’ was described as being ultra-luxe and uber stylish.

The stunning resort in the desert also has mountain views while you’re lounging by the pool.

4. The Thief, Oslo

This chic hotel in the Norwegian capital was loved by guests for its super fancy taste in art, with pieces from heavyweights like Antony Gormley and Andy Warhol lining the rooms and corridors.

Also a highlight was the secret underground tunnel leading to the hotel’s gym and spa.

5. The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

Clearly the Ritz Carlton knows how to impress guests – the second of the brand’s hotels on the list ended up there thanks to its exceptional views of the Kamogawa River and Higashiyama mountains. 

It has its own Japanese Zen Garden, naturally, and is known for its extra touches like the handmade soaps and Imabari bathrobes.

Meanwhile in Britain…

Alamy

The first London hotel to make the cut was Raffles London at The OWO – one of the most talked about hotels in London this century, according to Conde Naste Traveler.

From 1906 to 1964 the hotel’s building served as the War Office where D-Day was planned.

Influential political and military leaders of the time walked the corridors, and spies, notoriously, had their own entrance.

In 2016, Mumbai-based Hinduja Group purchased the building’s lease and invested almost £1.6 billion in refurbishments. They also brought Raffles on board.

Refurbishments took seven years, but there’s now 120 rooms and suites, four restaurants, three bars, a Guerlain spa, and a 65-foot subterranean pool.

State offices have now become suites, which all honour the building’s Edwardian heritage.

Rooms are adorned with marble fireplaces, chandeliers and geometric carpets.

The Haldane Suite used to be Churchill’s former office.

Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco heads up three of the restaurants – one for fine dining, one with a private table option, and Saison by Mauro Colagreco, which is a space that offers Mediterranean cuisine.

The Guard’s Bar, the hotel’s main bar, offers sixteen signature drinks that pay homage to British ingredients, local producers or international influences in a nod to the Raffles locations found across the globe.

There’s also a tiny Spy Bar, which occupies old MI5 and MI6 interrogation rooms in the basement.

Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, was a regular visitor to the Old War Office building, which is where he conjured the idea for 007.

The Spy Bar is located in two rooms that were numbered 006 and 007 in the early 20th century.

They acted as high security storage vaults for identity papers and mission reports of MI5 and MI6 agents. 

Guests can head to the speakeasy-style bar for a nightcap and to marvel at an Aston Martin DB5 mounted on the wall.

It seems there’s a price for luxury, as room rates at the hotel don’t come cheap.

For a one night stay in a room for two adults, you’re looking to pay around just shy of £3,500.

The hotel placed 33rd on the list out of a list of 50.

On the World’s 50 Best Hotels list, it was placed at 13.

Andrés Eligio Quintana Roo nació en la ciudad de Mérida en el 30 de noviembre de 1787, fue hijo de José Matías Quintana y María Ana Roo. Cursó estudios en el Seminario de San Ildefonso de su ciudad natal, en 1808 se trasladó a la ciudad de México para estudiar en la Real y Pontificia […]

La entrada Andrés Quintana Roo: Abogado, poeta, político y periodista se publicó primero en Verás.

Vicksburg Daily News -

VICKSBURG, MS –  The Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation (SCHF) will host it’s 17th Annual “Classics in the Courtyard”, beginning October 18 through November 8. Each Friday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., the Courtyard at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center will be the backdrop for a different local music group to sing, serenade, and sway […]

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IT was a phone call out of the blue that blew apart Sasha Humphries’ family.

She and husband Rob already had two teen girls, and now an 18-year-old woman claimed to be his love child.

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But while electrician Rob, 53, has welcomed another daughter with open arms, 53-year-old Sasha wishes she had never found them . . .

SITTING in the restaurant, I saw a beautiful woman walking through the door and I felt sick.

I knew immediately it was her, Josie, the woman who was throwing a hand grenade into my life.

She was the spitting image of my two daughters. There was no way she wasn’t related to them.

I realised then how much I’d been clinging to the hope that it was all a horrible mistake and my husband Rob’s past hadn’t come back to haunt us.

Josie was only 18 but so self-assured as she walked over to our table and introduced herself.

All I wanted to do was shove away this interloper. Instead, I plastered a smile on my face and pretended to be pleased to meet her. I’ve been pretending ever since — six long years.

I hope she doesn’t realise my true feelings, I’m not proud of them. But the truth is I don’t like her. I can’t bring myself to use the word hate, but I wish she’d never found us.

Josie had always known she was adopted and at 18 she got her birth certificate, which only had her mum’s name on, and tracked her down. She told her who her father was. Then she found Rob.

My husband turned white when he got the first call from her. I was beside him in the kitchen when she rang. He hadn’t even known his ex-girlfriend was pregnant.

They’d had a fling when he was 19 after meeting in a pub. It only lasted for two months.

He barely even mentioned her when we got together 22 years ago and had one of those chats that new couples have about past partners.

When he ended the call he explained she wanted to meet. He was in shock, but excited too.

He’s always been hands-on with our girls Fran, now 20, and Emma, 19, spending every moment with them when he’s not working as an electrician. He also felt enormous guilt.

It’s impossible not to feel a hint of jealousy

We’re not rich but we’ve managed with careful budgeting to have a comfortable life, enjoying a holiday abroad most years.

Josie’s adoptive father had left when she was five and her adoptive mum struggled to make ends meet, working all hours in a shop.

She’d missed out on luxuries and had little time with her frazzled mum. I only worked part-time when the girls were young.

Even before he met her, he went on about how much he wanted to make his absence up to her.

If he’d known she existed he’d have kept her.

I wish he had known. I’d have still fallen in love with him if he’d been a single dad but having this fully fledged adult infiltrate our family is different.

That first meeting in the restaurant, two weeks after her initial contact, lasted for hours.

I sat there while I watched Rob fall in love with her. It was nothing sexual of course, but I could have been invisible as he asked her questions about her life.

She felt like a rival and a threat to our happy family. I think many parents love their kids more than their partner, and here was someone that he immediately loved, and has grown to love more than me.

It’s impossible not to feel a hint of jealousy.

I didn’t take to her from the start. Josie is hard. I feel sympathy, she had to learn to fend for herself.

But it means she will take anything she thinks she can get. I think she’s resentful she missed out and is determined to make up for lost time, materially and emotionally.

I find her spoilt and entitled. She’s never acknowledged it might be tough for me

I find her spoilt and entitled. She’s never acknowledged it might be tough for me. She has bulldozed herself into our lives and inserts herself into every occasion.

The girls love her. They were excited when we told them about her after that lunch and met her a week later.

They were only 14 and 13, and were impressed by her. She’d left home and was working in a trendy bar in Milton Keynes. She’s always made an effort with them, I can’t fault her for that.

She’s never had a DNA test but it’s so clear she’s related to Rob and the girls.

I feel like the outsider

That’s one of the things that hurts, I’d always thought the girls looked a bit like me but now I realise they don’t.

When all of them are together, I feel like the outsider, they all look so similar.

My girls have left home now. Fran works in London in marketing and Emma is studying to be a doctor.

When they come home I want it to be the four of us but Rob invites Josie all the time. Even if I arrange to meet with one of them, he suggests I invite Josie too — that drives me mad.

She’s also constantly on the phone to Rob, asking him to help her out of some disaster or other, from a blocked toilet to financial handouts.

It takes nearly two hours to get to her in Milton Keynes but he’ll go whenever she calls.

Sometimes, I feel like she’s the “other woman” coming into our marriage.

I resent how he’ll drop everything. He’s much tougher on our girls, telling them to stand on their own two feet, because he feels no guilt about their upbringing.

He won’t give them extra money. I end up sneaking it to them from my savings to make up for it.

Fortunately, they don’t realise the extent of his help as that would be damaging for them.

It also annoys me that Josie is often late or cancels arrangements at the last minute. He never pulls her up on it but takes out his disappointment and frustration on the rest of us.

Two years ago she met a lovely man and she’s now more settled.

But four months ago she had a baby. I love her son, I’m not a monster, but I’m jealous that Rob is a grandfather before me.

Josie’s arrival put a huge strain on our marriage

I know technically I’m a step-grandmother, but it isn’t the same. I wanted being grandparents to be something we did together.

And if I’m brutally honest I feel he’s pushed me further down the pecking order in Rob’s affections.

Equally, I don’t agree with Josie’s parenting. She sees her baby as an accessory.

There are countless pictures of her on social media smiling with him. In real life it’s her partner that does most of the heavy lifting.

Josie’s arrival put a huge strain on our marriage. Rob and I agree about most things but he won’t hear a word against Josie. He loves her unconditionally and can’t understand why I don’t too.

I had to have counselling to come to terms with my thoughts. And I’ve learnt to bite my lip and not point out her faults to Rob.

But deep down I feel our marriage will never be the same again.

I’ll never understand how women manage when men father a love child through cheating. This has been tough enough.

• ALL NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED