Latest news with #Gleneagles
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Scottish hotels have moved on from whisky and tartan – and become cool as a result
Blame it on tartan and whisky if you will. For decades, hotels in Scotland were a hum-drum (hum-dram?) affair of brown furniture, weathered Black Watch and Royal Stewart upholstery, creaking floorboards and lacklustre breakfasts with naff toast racks and Nescafé. Golfing resorts brought in the Succession bros by default, while Asian and American tourists armed with maps of island distilleries kept the majority of hotel rooms occupied year-round. But in under a decade there's been a radical shift. And it's still shifting, attracting a whole new kind of visitor. Internationally, it's Gleneagles that is the best-known luxury hotel in Scotland. It marked a century in business last year and has always retained its 1920s glamour. There have been huge refurbs, but it still represents a somewhat old-school approach to what a luxury hotel should be. It's a serious golfing hotel, where the clientele expects a certain kind of stasis of style. Not so elsewhere. I remember going to the Fife Arms the year it opened in Braemar in 2018. I'd been to Inverlochy Castle a few months before. The experiences were a world apart. Inverlochy is grand in one way but depressing in many others. It feels like a 1970s version of Victorian luxe. The Fife Arms, I knew instantly on arrival, was going to be a game changer for the whole country. Artfarm, the hospitality offshoot of the wildly glamorous Hauser & Wirth international art galleries empire, had a new vision about how to repurpose Victorian architecture. It was bold and experimental and like nothing anyone had seen before. Designer Russell Sage, along with a group of major artists, created a fever dream of the Highlands. Today, it's up there with Naoshima Island in Japan as a place for aesthetes who want to be wowed in style. It's been such a success that Sage is currently in the process of upgrading the hardware of some of the already superb suites to up the luxury factory even more. Bookings drastically exceeded the business plan's targets. No matter that it's a minimum 90-minute drive from Dundee, people can't get enough of it. Alongside Artfarm, the Danish-owned WildLand company has been continuing to expand its portfolio north of the border. Lundies House was the best, most stylish hotel I visited last year. This year, work is underway by WildLand to turn the old Jenners department store in Edinburgh into a mega hotel under the design direction of David Chipperfield. At the same time, there's talk of them turning the Dores Inn on Loch Ness into something chic for 2026. All these things will be magical when they come to fruition because WildLand is owned by Anders Holch Povlsen, a Danish aesthete who loves the Scottish landscape and also happens to be the richest man in the country. This isn't a chap who'll scrimp on flower budgets in the lobby. 'I'm currently finishing work on Ardbeg House on Islay for LVMH, which will open with 12 bedrooms in September,' says Russell Sage. 'We have been creating bespoke furniture for it, including wardrobes customised with graffiti in Gaelic. We worked with lots of local craftspeople on the design, as well as Edinburgh-based blacksmith Jack Waygood. It's been a knock-out project [and] it's like nothing else you've seen.' Ardbeg would still probably be a success with a more low-key approach. But with Sage allowed to run wild, it's going to be one of the most talked-about openings of the year. Some Scottish hoteliers have gone mod but prefer to keep the visual noise down. Gordon Campbell Gray changed the design pace of the London hotel scene when he opened One Aldwych in 1998, a year before Ian Schrager's first opening in the capital. It was cool but grown-up. Today Campbell Gray has downsized somewhat and runs the Wee Hotel Company in Scotland, incorporating the Three Chimneys on Skye and the Pierhouse in Argyll. 'As a Scot I can admit that, historically, when it came to design, we did good really well and bad really badly,' he tells me. 'Happily, things have changed. We want to have a sense of place wherever we travel in the world and historically Scotland has perhaps leant too heavily on the traditional designs associated with it. I do worry that design can become too much of a statement, but then there is the generic bland design of the major brand hotels. There is a balance to be struck between comfort and excitement.' The balance is just right at Gairnshiel Lodge and its nearby cottages, not far from the Fife Arms. It was first put on my radar by a friend who asked if I'd been 'to the place in the wilds of Aberdeenshire that looks like Rick Owens designed it'. Each of its rooms has been limewashed in a different blend of dark colours, accenting whatever that room looks out onto – the passing river, moss or heather of the landscape. There's furniture by Apparatus, Charlotte Perriand and Dirk Van Sliedrecht. It makes most of what's in World of Interiors look like Ikea and it's indicative of the Scandi sensibilities that have influenced so many new places in Scotland. Another low key, super-chic gem is Folingall Hotel that reopened in Glen Lyon this summer, after being bought and transformed by interior designer Annabelle Holland. As with Belgian designer Nathalie Van Reeth who reimagined Gairnshiel, Holland has let the landscape take the lead. There's no chintz. The interior is easy on the eye. The hotel scene in Scottish cities is also catching up, but faster in Edinburgh than Glasgow, which really deserves some Artfarm or WildLand love. When Blythswood Square opened in 2009, its use of more modern types of Harris Tweed and the architecture of the old Royal Scottish Automobile Club made for something impressive. But today Glasgow needs to up its game. Plans for a Soho House were shelved and it's been too long since something truly remarkable opened in one of the most fun cities in Europe. House of Gods opened another of its maximalist steam punk-meets-Cecil B. Demille hotels here last year, giving it 28 bedrooms in town along with 22 over in the capital. Perhaps more hotels will follow suit and open up in both cities. It seems like a new hotel opens every week within 20 minutes' walk of the Royal Mile. There is so much more than the Witchery in 2025. A swanky new Hoxton opened this summer and Gleneagles Townhouse (a younger, cooler urban sister of the original) still has a lot of buzz after opening in 2022. Its members bar feels like a scene on the rooftop and the main restaurant in the dining hall is as glam as anything else carved out of an old banking hall anywhere in the world. While it's a local sport to mock the architecture of the new W Hotel, there's no denying that its interior and rooms are impressive. And, most importantly, if you do want to sink into a retro fantasia of rococo Scottish glam, there are places doing it better than they ever did before. Go to Prestonfield House, half an hour outside of the city, and you can drown yourself in all the velvet, leopard-print and tapestries you could ever hope for. Sometimes you want Scandinavian form and function, sometimes you want to wake up hungover somewhere so camp and opulent that it forced you to misbehave. And if it's been done well, that's still as cool as anywhere else.
UPI
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Calandigan wins King George, Glorious Goodwood to have more top racing
Calandagan wins the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday, earning a "Win and You're In" bid to the Breeders' Cup Turf. Photo by Hattie Austin/ courtesy of Breeders' Cup July 28 (UPI) -- Royal Ascot rules racing springtime in England, but midsummer packs in some of the best of the year's action as the 3-year-olds start to test their elders and spots for big-ticket year-end races are on the block. The weekend's King George meeting at Ascot and this week's Glorious Goodwood are on the leading edge of that excitement. Here's a rundown, a look forward and a sideways glance at Germany and South Africa. England Calandagan chased down Kalpana in the final yards to land Saturday's Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot by 1 length with two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner Rebel's Romance rallying to finish third after traffic issues. Coolmore's pair, Jan Brueghel and Continuous, led the way for most of the King George's 1 1/4 miles, but wilted when Kapana surged to the front midway down the straight. They finished next-last and last in the five-horse field. Kalpana, a 4-year-old Study of Man filly, with Oisin Murphy up, looked to have stolen a march on the field, but Mickael Barzalona had Calandagan wound up from the back of the pack and the Aga Khan Stud's homebred 4-year-old Gleneagles gelding got the job done. The tactics were a bit of a puzzler, as most thought Continuous was in the race to make a pace for Jan Brueghel, who had defeated Calandagan by 1/2 length in the Group 1 Coronation Cup using those tactics. Barzalona said he was surprised, too, to see jockey Ryan Moore put Jan Brueghel on the lead. "I didn't expect that one," Barzalona said. "But once I saw Continuous beside him and Rebel's Romance boxed in, I was happy where I was because I knew either William [Buick on Rebel's Romance] was going to make a gap or Oisin was going to have to go round. "I was just waiting to see what happened, and when I saw Oisin making the move, I just followed." The race was a "Win and You're In" for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Trainer Francis Graffard wasn't talking California in his post-race comments. "He's in the Juddmonte International, so why not go there?" he added, referring to the Group 1 at York on Aug. 20. "I wouldn't mind coming back and then maybe going to Japan at the end of the season. But I have to discuss it with the Aga Khan team and Princess Zahra." Kalpana, despite the defeat, was lowered into the favorite's role by many bookmakers for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, perhaps thanks to her win on soft turf in last October's Group 1 British Champions Filly & Mare Turf. Calandagan came to Ascot off a victory in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Before that, he had four straight seconds, all in Group 1 races. Also Saturday at Ascot, Fitzella captured the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes, improving on a fourth-place finish in the Group 3 Albany at the Royal meeting; and Cheshire Dancer landed the Group 3 Valiant Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 mile. On Friday at Ascot, Time to Turn shot to the lead in the final furlong of the Pat Eddery Stakes for 2-year-olds and held off the late run of A Bit of Spirit to win by a head. The Godolphin homebred Dark Angel colt finished second in his first two starts, won his third on the Wolverhampton all-weather and was favorite in Friday's field. Looking ahead ... Glorious Goodwood kicks off Tuesday with the Group 1 Goodwood Cup, a 2-mile staying test with Coolmore's Illinois and Scandinavia the top early picks. Wathnan Racing fields French Master. Nine-year-old Dubai Future is held at long odds in the eight-horse field, but has shown continued ability with a win in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup in April and a third (albeit beaten 13 lengths) in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Trainer Saeed bin Suroor would like nothing more than to pick up his second top-level win in three days' time after winning Sunday in Munich. The highlight of the meeting arrives Wednesday in the Group 1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes. Field of Gold, romping winner of the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in his last start, is the overwhelming favorite. He and Coolmore's Henri Matisse, second at Ascot, try their luck against older horses for the first time. Field of Gold, a Juddmonte homebred trained by John and Thady Gosden, shares the top spot in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings with Ombudsman and Japanese star Forever Young. It's 3-year-olds against older rivals again Thursday in the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares. Pending declarations, Coolmore holds a strong hand with entries for Whirl, winner of the Group 1 Pretty Polly, and Bedtime Story, second in the Group 1 Prix de Diane or French Oaks. See the Fire, third behind Ombudsman in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at the Royal meeting, also figures in this 1 1/4-mile test. Germany Tornado Alert racked up another German Group 1 win for Godolphin in Sunday's Grosser Dallmayr-Preis in Munich. Jockey Oisin Murphy kept the 3-year-old Too Darn Hot colt close enough to the pace throughout, easily took the lead turning for home and repulsed a late bid by the favorite, Wathnan Racing's Map of Stars, to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Lazio finished third, the best of the locals. Winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who won the event with Kutub in 2001 and Benbatl in 2018, picked up his first Group 1 win since October 2023. Neither of the top two features in the top ranks for upcoming Group 1 events, but Tornado Alert's odds were halved by some bookmakers for the Juddmonte International at York. Map of Stars' standing for the Arc took a tumble. South Africa Gladatorian turned the tables on Durban July winner The Real Prince in Saturday's Grade 1 HKJC Champions Day at Greyville, seeing off that rival by 1/2 length. The 5-year-old Vercingetorix gelding finished seventh in the July and third, behind Dave the King, in their previous
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
I've got a huge 18-1 tip on King George day at Ascot… where we could soon be talking about a new master trainer
ONCE in France it was all about the master trainer Fabre. Now there's Graffard. On Saturday at Ascot Graffard has the chance to do something that Fabre hasn't yet done and land a second Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. 1 Back at his beloved Ascot can Calandagan get the better of Jan Brueghel in their epic rematch? Find out live on ITV1 at 4.10pm Credit: PA This is big. Francis-Henri Graffard, one of the most likeable handlers you could meet, saddles a horse in CALANDAGAN who might just have been much maligned in the mile-and-a-half summer showpiece. For much of his career Calandagan has been ridden as if he's a nutter. Held up miles off the pace. Given loads to do. Because he's been gelded, it's been easy to assume that he's got issues. However, on occasions, Calandagan has managed to win and looked a beast. It was at Royal Ascot last year that the strapping son of Gleneagles came from last - on the home bend - to first to grab the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes. It was quite extraordinary, although not the strongest renewal with the benefit of hindsight. He went on to chase home Anmaat in the Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes, also at Ascot and again given plenty of ground to make up. Most read in Horse Racing This season he was second (well held) in Meydan to Danon Decile and chased home Jan Brueghel when seemingly outbattled in the Coronation Cup at Epsom. Three runner-up spots got some wondering about Calandagan's attitude. But what's important is what happened on June 29 at Saint-Cloud. That day regular partner Mickael Barzalona rode Calandagan like a normal horse, settling in fourth but not that far off the gallop. Ultimately he would go on and hack up in that Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, suggesting he might not be quite the fruitcake some of us might have thought. Fabre has only won the King George once, and that was with the great Hurricane Run in 2006. Graffard, of course, took the big race with Goliath last year. If Calandagan scores he will become the first trainer to land consecutive renewals of the King George with a different horse since Sir Michael Stoute did so via Conduit and Harbinger in 2009/10. This is no one-horse race. But Calandagan only has three rivals and a pacemaker to beat. Taking on the Aga Khan's four-year-old are Jan Brueghel, Rebel's Romance and Kalpana. Aidan O'Brien's Jan Brueghel saw off Calandagan in the Coronation Cup, but as I've said under different tactics here I expect a change in result. That said, Jan Brueghel is crucial and has every chance. Also, he brings with him Continuous, who will set the gallop despite once being a Classic winner in the St Leger. Rebel's Romance is an absolute warrior for Godolphin. He's won nearly £11million in prize money and two Breeders' Cup Turf races along the way. However, he was only third last year and I suspect he will find one or two too good again. He would also like firm ground. Kalpana gets 3lb from her rivals, and she's pretty good for Andrew Balding, landing last season's Group 1 Qipco British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes at this course. However, she hasn't been good enough this term to defeat Whirl and Los Angeles and she will need more here to score. For many today the big betting race is the International Handicap over 7f. I'll chance OLIVER SHOW for the Billy Loughnane and George Boughey team. A mark of 98 is harsh enough for my hope, but he ran really well in the Lincoln at Doncaster off 95 before never getting involved after a slow start in the Buckingham Palace at Royal Ascot. That 7f will have been short enough in any case for a horse who has raced up to 1m2f. With a normal start and getting back to the Lincoln form he would have an each-way chance. Finally at York all eyes are on the exciting ALMAQAM in the Sky Bet Group 2 York Stakes over an extended 1m2f. I'm all over Ed Walker's stable star here under the excellent Kieran Shoemark. This colt has always been held in high regard and saw off Ombudsman when last seen in the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown. He can go from the front or come off the pace and stays strong. The going is also ideal. Everything is set for a massive run in a decent field. Only slight concern is he does give plenty of weight to the three-year-olds. But he really should win. What a Saturday. Racing fit for a King. FREE BETS - GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. . Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: Read more on the Irish Sun Establishes time and monetary limits before playing Only gambles with money they can afford to lose Never chases their losses Doesn't gamble if they're upset, angry or depressed Gamcare – Gamble Aware – Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.
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Business Standard
23-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
IHH inks Fortis-Gleneagles O&M deal to strengthen pan-India platform
Under the agreement, Fortis will manage operations of six Gleneagles hospitals and one clinic, earning a monthly fee and expanding its bed capacity and national presence Sanket Koul New Delhi In a bid to consolidate its healthcare presence in India, Malaysian healthcare major IHH on Wednesday announced an operation and maintenance (O&M) services agreement between its two subsidiary companies—Fortis Healthcare and Gleneagles Healthcare India (GHIPL). As part of the agreement, Fortis will manage the operations of five out of the six hospitals and one clinic under the Gleneagles India network. The agreement will become effective for the sixth hospital—Gleneagles BGS Hospital in Karnataka—upon receipt of acceptance and acknowledgment from certain third parties. The move expands Fortis' geographic footprint by increasing beds under its management, and provides incremental revenue and improves profitability through direct service fees. As part of the deal, Fortis will be entitled to receive a monthly service fee at the rate of 3 per cent of the net revenue of GHIPL's hospitals business on a consolidated basis, which stood at Rs 718.5 crore as of March 31, 2025. Fortis' consolidated revenue stood at Rs 7,783 crore for the full financial year 2024–25 (FY25), of which Rs 6,528 crore came from its hospital business. The healthcare major currently has 4,750 operational beds, including O&M beds, in 27 facilities. It recorded 69 per cent bed occupancy, generating an average revenue of Rs 2.42 crore per occupied bed in FY25. The Delhi-based chain, however, added that the arrangement with Gleneagles is being done on an arm's length basis, as determined by an independent financial adviser. 'The arrangement does not entail any acquisition and is only for the provision of O&M services,' Fortis said in a regulatory filing on the exchanges. The filing also stated that GHIPL shall bear all third-party and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Fortis, in the manner laid down in the definitive documents. Commenting on the deal, Prem Kumar Nair, group chief executive officer of IHH, said the O&M services agreement reflects the company's commitment to long-term growth in one of its most important markets. He added that this is being done by deepening collaboration to enhance patient care and outcomes and drive greater operational efficiencies.
BreakingNews.ie
22-07-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Geldof's threat to quit Blair's Africa Commission
A furious Bob Geldof threatened to storm out of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa – warning it was in danger of becoming 'a laughable grotesque', according to newly-released government files. The Live Aid campaigner was instrumental in persuading Mr Blair to set up the commission to examine the problems of the continent ahead of a crucial summit of the G8 at Gleneagles in Scotland, which the UK was chairing. Advertisement But official papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, show he was outraged when – after just one meeting – the commissioners were sent a document setting its 'emerging conclusions'. In an angry letter to the commission's director of policy, the economist Sir Nick Stern, dated August 9 2004, he said it was impossible to have come to any conclusions it such a short period of time. The former rock star warned that he was not prepared to serve on a body which was simply there to push 'pre-determined government policy'. 'To be clear, policy must be determined by the commission independently sitting and independently deliberating and concluding of its own volition. This distinction is vital. If I have got this wrong please inform me so I may tender my resignation,' he wrote. Advertisement 'More broadly, the whole notion of emerging solutions is laughable. If the solution to the misery of Africa can be 'concluded' within a mere six week time span, it is a truly remarkable feat. 'How blind we must all have been these past years. The fact is that there are not and cannot as yet be any emerging conclusions. 'The commission will lose all credibility if it is not clearly seen to be an independent entity. If it seems to advance pre-determined government policy it will be correctly viewed as a laughable grotesque.' Bob Geldof with Bono and Tony Blair in Downing Street. Photo: PA. Geldof went on to complain that the involvement of some of the commissioners – including some of those from Africa – appeared to have been 'minimal'. Advertisement 'Is it not the secretariat's function, on behalf of the chair, to ensure that this is not the case? Or is this all some farcical political game played out at the expense of the wretchedly poor? If so, I ain't playing.' Sir Nicholas wrote back hurriedly to assure him the that the document was not an attempt pre-empt the commission's findings, and that the input from British politicians had been 'comparatively minor'. 'Far from being an attempt to rush conclusions the paper is intended to to be a tool to help promote discussion and ensure a real interchange between commissioners at the second meeting in October,' he wrote. 'I would be very keen to sit down and discuss these questions with you; perhaps we could meet for a drink as soon as we are both around?' Advertisement Geldof's reply is not recorded in the files, but he was sufficiently placated to carry on. After the Gleneagles summit the following year agreed to double aid to Africa and extend debt relief, he hailed it as 'mission accomplished'.
