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We'd say absolutely. With options like Holafly, you'll get unlimited data, which is ideal for navigation, streaming, uploading content, or staying in touch with loved ones.
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It's a game-changer if you're fed up with surprise roaming fees.
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Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
Powerful new AI models knock the wind out of European adopter stocks
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A rout in shares of European companies embracing artificial intelligence deepened this week, as powerful new AI models raise questions about whether sectors from software to data analytics could find themselves overtaken by the technology. European software stocks, including Germany's SAP ( opens new tab and France's Dassault Systemes ( opens new tab, tumbled on Tuesday as worries that AI will disrupt the software sector spread through the market. That followed a downgrade to U.S. rival Adobe (ADBE.O), opens new tab on Monday by broker Melius Research. Since mid-July, shares in markets and data group LSEG (LSEG.L), opens new tab, UK software firm Sage (SGE.L), opens new tab, and French IT consulting group Capgemini ( opens new tab have dropped 14.4%, 10.8% and 12.3% respectively. Such companies - dubbed AI adopters by analysts - are investing heavily in the technology to beef up their products and services. Amid a dearth of European AI companies and suppliers, their shares had benefitted as investors in the region sought a way to tap the AI boom powering U.S. markets. But the release of ever more powerful AI tools appears to have prompted a rethink among some market players. Last week, OpenAI launched its GPT-5 model, the latest iteration of the AI technology that has helped transform global business and culture since ChatGPT arrived in late 2022. Kunal Kothari, a fund manager at Aviva Investors, also pointed to the July 15 release of Anthropic's Claude for Financial Services. "The app that came out has now challenged an investment case around London Stock Exchange (LSEG), around the provision of financial data," he said. "We're at the stage now with every iteration of GPT or Claude that comes out ... it's multiples more capable than the previous generation. The market's thinking: 'oh, wait, that challenges this business model'." The drop in European adopter stocks contrasts with broader market gains. Since mid-July, London's FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab is up 2.5% and Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab up 0.6%, while U.S. indexes have scaled record highs, largely powered by tech stocks. Exacerbating matters is the fact that many European adopter stocks trade on high multiples, making them vulnerable to any potential negative news, according to Bernie Ahkong, Chief Investment Officer at hedge fund UBS O'Connor. The STOXX 600 trades at an average price-to-earnings multiple of 17 times, while SAP - whose shares are down 7.2% since mid-July after posting their biggest daily drop since late 2020 on Tuesday - trades at around 45 times. Although many AI adopter stocks are struggling, some investors say markets will eventually take a more systematic approach, picking out potential winners and losers. "At the moment, it feels like the market's just shooting first and putting them all in a 'challenged basket'," said Aviva's Kothari, referring to the decline in UK AI adopters. The hype around new AI models has led to the resurfacing of 2017 comments from Jensen Huang, the CEO of AI chipmaking behemoth Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, that "AI is going to eat software". "We don't disagree, but we believe some delineation is warranted here, as not all software companies are equally exposed," said Steve Wreford, portfolio manager on the global thematic equity team at Lazard Asset Management. He said those with software deeply embedded into client company workflows, or with hard-to-replicate proprietary data, still had strong competitive advantages. Paddy Flood, portfolio manager and global sector specialist, technology, at Schroders, said it was important to distinguish between different types of software. "Enterprise-grade applications are less exposed, given their mission-critical nature, the complexity involved in replacing them, and the value of a trusted vendor ensuring ongoing service," he said. Aviva's Kothari also flagged the benefits of having software deeply embedded with customers, citing UK credit data firm Experian (EXPN.L), opens new tab as an example. "It has lots of data unique to it, but it's also hugely embedded in the workflows of financial institutions. They want to make a loan, they need Experian," he said, also highlighting Britain's Sage. He holds both stocks, along with LSEG, but cautioned that proprietary data alone may no longer be enough to protect businesses. "I just don't think data is a big enough moat anymore," he said. The selloff in AI adopter stocks could be an opportunity for investors to pick the winners, said UBS O'Connor's Ahkong. "Some of the affected names will actually be able to use AI as an opportunity and tailwind for earnings, but need to prove that from here and that will take time," Ahkong said. But how much time the companies have is unclear. Some investors were already warning earlier this year that the clock was ticking for big spenders on AI to show returns.
Times
24 minutes ago
- Times
The cool holiday spots the style set are heading to this summer
For a snapshot of where's happening for summer holidays right now, we asked fashion designers, brand founders, authors and artists where they are spending their summer breaks this year. The result is a cornucopia of stylish stays, great little restaurants and beach bars in secretly chic corners of Europe and beyond. This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue Colomers is a rural village an hour or so north of Barcelona in Catalonia. I've been going to this part of Spain for nearly 25 years, ever since my father and stepmother moved there. Here you get the same Mediterranean vibe as in the south of France — views, sea, the smell of pine — but don't have to fight for restaurant tables or croissants in the mornings. I'm most excited about the eating because I'm very greedy. You can find madly inexpensive restaurants that dole out squid and grilled rabbit and crema catalana for £12. Plus, bottomless carafes of rosado. Toc de Vi is a bar and restaurant in Colomers where you can sit by the medieval church as the sun sets and eat the best grilled pork you've ever come across ( Hotel la Placa Madremanya is a small stone hotel among vineyards, with B&B doubles at from £180 ( Fly to Girona I've got a trip to Formentera planned where I'll be spending a few nights with a friend and a couple of nights on my own, which is sort of the best of both worlds. Lounging by the hotel pool or on the beach with some of my most anticipated summer reads is what I'm excited about. I'm staying at Dunas de Formentera, an eco-resort right on the beach, so I'm expecting stunning B&B doubles from £277 ( Fly to Ibiza I'm going to Milan before the Ligurian Riviera and the Bay of Silence — ominously named when taking a two and a seven-year-old who both know how to produce noise. This was a last-minute decision driven by the promise of new horizons, divine food and large open spaces for ball games, Frisbee and perhaps a little adult downtime. In shifts. Obvs. I can only handle four days max on a beach or by a pool so the city part of the trip is for me — cue dragging everyone around art galleries, trattorias I've read about (and that often take an age to find) and mooching around pretty squares, alongside some serious wine imbibing. Details On the Italian riviera in Santa Margherita Ligure near Portofino, the elegant Grand Hotel Miramare has a pool and spa, and B&B doubles from £430 ( Fly or take the train to Milan • The bargain last-minute getaway does still exist — here's how to do it I went to Marbella Club earlier this summer with my wife and three kids. It has a soaked-in, unapologetic old-world glamour, but in a way that feels alive and present rather than staged. Every space is different. The quiet, whitewashed corners by day give way to candlelit pines and a vibey, sophisticated romance at night. The kids' club was so good I almost wanted to stay there myself: treehouses, pottery, gardens. It meant I could slip off to the thalasso spa to enjoy some alone time with the missus. And we enjoyed evenings at the Grill — dressing for dinner before drifting to the Summer Bar for an old fashioned. I couldn't get enough of the interiors at the club — tiled floors, lacquered antiques, little flashes of maximalism against all that Andalusian restraint. It's the shift in tempo I loved most. Sun-bleached calm in the day, and an almost cinematic elegance by Room-only doubles from £405 ( Fly to Malaga I'm going to Cap Ferret on the west coast of France. It's all about cycling, seafood shacks and buying linens in pretty markets. The place to go is La Cabane d'Hortense, a green and white seafood shack on the beach, for oysters, big platefuls of grilled fish and the palest rosé (12 oysters £16; This will be our fourth visit, we just love it there. Details By the beach with surfy/Hamptons-style leanings and 13 rooms in chic hut-like buildings, the Hôtel des Dunes has B&B doubles from £200 ( Fly to Bordeaux We've been going back and forth to northeast Corfu as we have a plot of land and are hoping to start building a house there soon. It's so easy and laid-back — there is a simplicity to Greece which I love. The water is something I dream about when I'm not in it, especially swimming at Kerasia beach near Kassiopi, and the long, lazy, hazy lunches. The filo-wrapped halloumi and the baby squid served at Taverna Agni on Agni Beach get me every time (mains from £17; Another long-time favourite is Casa Privata in Praiano on Italy's Amalfi coast between Positano and Amalfi. After painstaking renovation, this old fisherman's ruin is now a beautiful seven-bedroom retreat with incredible views of the Mediterranean sea and gardens that tumble down to a private rocky B&B doubles from £430 ( Fly to Naples • 18 of the best places to visit in September 2025 This summer I'm heading to Ireland on a road trip, meeting friends as we go. Last year we went to the Swedish archipelago and Gotland because, with three kids under six, we avoid hot locations. I'm looking forward to being outdoors, not at a desk, and exploring whatever the weather brings. I'm excited to visit the Blasket Islands as it's been at the top of my list for a while. Details Seven nights' camper van hire for four from Dublin from £848 ( We had just had a baby in Mexico City and headed to Maroma, a Belmond hotel on the country's Riviera Maya. I was hoping to meet a mysterious cad from a bygone era — Freddie Miles, Tom Ripley, the wife of an Agatha Christie archaeologist with a rock-solid alibi for his puzzling death. I always assume a luxury hotel is wall-to-wall fat cats and their semaglutide wives, but Maroma guests are pleasantly friendly and strikingly normal. Broadly speaking, I love a hotel that feels like it's been there for ever but that rewired this side of the war and memory-foamed the mattresses. A Caesar salad and a martini in one of those beds please. Otherwise, nothing comes close to the mystic refinement of Adrère Amellal in Egypt at the Siwa oasis. It's a hidden gem. Please don't tell the fat cats. Details B&B doubles from £735 ( Fly to Cancun. B&B doubles from £625 ( Fly to Siwa via Cairo We luckily aligned our holiday with an early summer heatwave in Scotland at Glen Dye in Aberdeenshire. Occupying a series of restored farm buildings on a family estate, it's an otherworldly place known and loved within Scotland's creative set. Think Dirty Dancing in the Scottish wilderness. We loved hill walking, fire cooking, saunas, outdoor baths and showers and the charismatically decorated cottages and cabins. We got lost in the soulful singing of the folk musician Sam Grassie at the estate's pub one evening. Stepping out into the night, it felt as if we'd been transported to another realm. A trip of a lifetime was when we set up Bard and embarked on a ten-week road and ferry journey across Scotland and the islands, meeting craftspeople in their studios and workshops to understand what they make, and why. Details B&B doubles from £175 ( I'm returning to SHA Wellness Clinic, near Alicante, for the second time, to feel that bit healthier and more relaxed. SHA is an integrative medical clinic, but in a hotel/spa setting, so it's not a cocktails by the pool affair. I love that I will leave having learnt how to support my body in the face of a fairly gruelling work and family schedule. I am also dying to return to Teranka, a gorgeous little hotel on a rugged beach on Formentera, off Ibiza. I had a wonderful few days there last year. It's quite remote, so perfect for switching off. Details All-inclusive doubles from £432 ( Fly to Malaga. B&B doubles from £517 ( Fly to Ibiza Each summer, we spend most of the kids' school holidays in Seoul, South Korea, where my wife is originally from. We head for the stunning beaches on the east coast or fly to Jeju, a volcanic island off the southern coast. My in-laws look after the kids for a few days so my wife and I can escape. Another favourite spot is Kamalaya, a wellness retreat nestled into a tropical outcrop on the southern coast of Koh Samui in Thailand. At its heart is a centuries-old cave, once used by Buddhist monks as a place of meditation and, a little further down the steep jungle path, you find yourself at a private beach with views out to the horizon. That sound of the breeze rustling through lush gardens, and the heady fragrance of lemongrass and cinnamon leave me longing to Seven nights' B&B in South Korea from £1,143pp, including transport and some tours ( Fly to Seoul. B&B doubles from £305 ( Fly to Koh Samui A friend has spent a lot of time exploring the Ligurian coast and invited a group of us out to share his favourite Genoa spots in June — it ended up being ten hunky men and me on Pride weekend. It was so much fun! Genoa has an intoxicating mix of rawness, slightly faded splendour and bubbling cultural communities similar to Naples and Marseille. Days were spent hopping on trains and ferries to Portofino, Camogli and secret swimming spots in between. We sat on pebble beaches drinking cheap spritz till the sun set, before hitting local discos that spilt out onto the streets. The night always finished with gelato. I wish I'd known about the 12-suite Palazzo Durazzo, a design lover's fantasy, with 18th-century B&B doubles from £263 ( Fly to Genoa I've moved from London to New York, so try to max out quality time with family back in Europe over the summer. We've had a week with my parents at Villa Jones, their amazing house in Provence which they designed. My mum is an amazing chef and every night, eating is the main event, with croquet and Domaine du Dragon rosé while we wait. We usually spend a day at the sculpture park and winery Château La Coste, or the Luma Arles art space, which is set in a reclaimed rail yard. Then we'll go on to see my sister Jemima and her husband at his family home, Tramores, a white villa with tiled kitchens and tropical gardens backed by hills in Andalusia. And before we return to New York life, my husband and I will steal away for a long weekend without the kids in Porto Ercole in Tuscany, via a night in Rome, where a meal at Trattoria da Enzo in Trastevere is always a good idea (pastas about £15; Seven nights' self-catering for eight from £3,500 ( Fly to Nice or Toulon. Five nights' self-catering for 19 from £16,000 ( Fly to Malaga We've had two beautiful weeks in Puglia — with a revolving door of friends coming and going. Complete chaos but heaven. I'm lucky in that my in-laws have a place near Ostuni so we go every summer — it's near towns but in the middle of the peaceful beautiful Italian countryside. The evening light is something else. The famous pottery town Grottaglie is nearby so we can't help but take our guests and stock up at the same time. And we love this little seafood restaurant called Il Principe del Mare in Fasano, which is really more of a shack but the food is incredible — a long lunch of white wine, spaghetti vongole and coffee is my idea of paradise (mains from £13; Details In the middle of Ostuni, boutique townhouse with spa Paragon 700 has 15 deeply romantic rooms with high ceilings and a slick outdoor pool, with B&B doubles from £239 ( Fly to Brindisi or Bari There's a quiet magic to Deia in northern Mallorca that's hard to capture in words. We've just completed a dream project near the village, refurbishing the Robert Graves Villa at the hotel La Residencia, and spent time there with family and friends celebrating the reopening. The Cantabrian anchovies with crispy bread, smoked butter and plankton oil at La Residencia's Cafe Miro are unmissable (mains from £25). It has wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and nods to the region's artistic heritage. Our days there were spent on an art tour; eating long, lazy lunches at the beach at Cala Deia, pottering through the boutiques and dipping in the sea. Details B&B doubles from £715 ( Fly to Palma I'm going to Oaxaca, Mexico. It's a place that captures all your senses — visually stunning, full of colour and texture, and alive with art, tradition and incredible food. I love its layered history and the warmth of the people. Every street corner offers a discovery that stops you in your tracks — a tiny craft shop, family-run restaurant, or a mural. I'm looking forward to eating tlayudas (crunchy tortillas) topped with Oaxacan cheese, mole in all its forms, and sipping rich, spiced chocolate. I love villages such as Teotitlán del Valle, where traditional crafts like weaving and wood carving have been passed down through generations. Casa Oaxaca is a favourite place to stay; its rooftop setting is beautiful, and the guacamole made tableside is something I always B&B doubles from £305 ( Fly to Oaxaca Montenegro is a recent favourite. I stayed at the extraordinary Mamula Island hotel, part of a Unesco World Heritage Site. Once a 19th-century fortress, it has been meticulously restored. I also love wandering lazily through the village and strolling down Main Street with an ice cream in hand in Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York, where I'll return this summer. A table on the porch of the American Hotel is a must. This stately Georgian beauty, which opened in 1846, has become the grande dame of Sag Harbor. I order a chicken cobb salad (£27; And I make time for drinks with friends by the water, always taking a stylish Fieldbar cooler ( B&B doubles from £447 ( Fly to Podgorica
Times
25 minutes ago
- Times
The playful hotel that challenges Switzerland's buttoned-up reputation
The devil is in the detail. Atop the wardrobe there's a finely tailored Panama hat to wear when shimmying out the door. On the glass-topped desk are nautical charts and photos of yachting lifestyle from travel's golden age. Beyond the wicker chair, by the thick-lipped tub in the airy bathroom is an ivory-white elephant (not a plastic-yellow duck). The sense is of adventure, safari and soujourns, but then a light breeze blows in and the seductive view outside is not of St Barths, St Lucia, or St Tropez, but of Zurich, a city famed as being buttoned-up and boring. Luxury is a given in this city of banks, insurance and wealth management. Even so, this refined five-star hotel is an occasion for an escape to somewhere else entirely — and all without leaving the city centre. It looks and feels beautifully exotic: because it is. This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue Score 9/10 The hotel is the brainchild of Michel Reybier Hospitality, a French hotel group with retreats for dreamers in other Swiss destinations such as Crans-Montana, Interlaken, Geneva and Bern, but this one has the fingerprints of Parisian designer Philippe Starck all over it. While he has a bold industrial eye, with a reputation for super-yachts as well as conceiving the private residences of the Elysée Palace in Paris, here he has used a softer touch. Up the glass elevator — the first major sign of the transition — and past a stained glass window designed by his daughter Ara, the 40 rooms and suites are a mix of wooden floors and metal furnishings; the idea, so Starck says, was to create onshore sailors' cabins. There's an improbable reconciliation between solid brick and rattan walls, but this enhances the soft colours, mahogany and leather, anchoring the room around the private balconies and centre-of-room king-size beds, not any over-fussy furnishings. There is a fine line between fancy and fanciful and the feeling here is of classic yacht lifestyle and interiors. Compared to stuffier hotels in Zurich, it's both 21st-century and terrific. As for the open-plan bathrooms, consider a duo of stone hand basins, a freestanding tub and walk-in rainforest shower. In keeping with the overall 'in-this-together' yacht-club vibe, all rooms and suites can be combined and entire corridors can be privatised for your pleasure. Score 9/10The main restaurant — the one-Michelin-star Eden Kitchen & Bar — is on the ground floor with on-show chef entertainment and expansive lake views, while the service is ship-shape, fuelled by a menu that sails in and out of ports all around the Mediterranean. There's saffron risotto and pink prawn carpaccio, squid carbonara, king crab tagliolino and beef tartare, a Swiss staple. It's expensive — so is everywhere in the city, mind — and the design doesn't let you forget Starck's narrative arc. Wooden hulls act as subtle decor motifs, oars hang above the marine-green tiled kitchen. On the sixth floor and adjoining the marquee rooftop cocktail bar, is La Muña, a ceviche, gyoza and sushi bar that's draped with sailboat rigging and ropes, with every inch of the wooden attic interior telling the story of sailing through the ages. Phileas Fogg type souvenirs complete the oceangoing myth. Breakfast also bursts with colour, texture and dishes that easily fit the nautical brief. Omelet 'Mont St Michel' de la Mere Poulard is a soufflé with black truffle. The Zuri breakfast, at least, gives the locals what they want: bacon and gruyère on potato rosti and eggs. • Best hotels in Switzerland• Discover our full guide to Switzerland Score 7/10There's a cigar lounge (if you like that sort of thing; the Swiss certainly do) and Seebad Utoquai, Zurich's finest badi or outdoor swim club, is on the lake across the road. It's not part of the hotel, but it does function as the hotel's pool, and entry and a beach bag are complimentary for guests. Score 9/10 The DNA of the hotel is the original Eden au Lac Hotel, a Zurich lodestar since the belle époque era when it debuted in 1909. That gives the hotel an address on the waterfront that everyone knows — next to the neo-baroque Opera House and busy Bellevue plaza — with sweeping views of the lake and pine-skirted hills that everyone would like a piece of. Price room-only doubles from £664 Restaurant mains from £36Family-friendly YAccessible Y Mike MacEacheran was a guest of La Réserve Eden au Lac Zurich ( • Best places to visit in Switzerland• Most beautiful places in Switzerland
