Historic war office used by Winston Churchill is transformed into luxury Raffles London hotel

From harbor-front Hong Kong glam to old-school European luxury, a just-released list of the best hotels on the planet offers a handy guide to traveling the world in high style – or at least assembling a list of dream accommodations. 

One of the fruits of getting on a train is that it makes me want to chat. So instead of gazing at Kent as we proceed to Paris from London, I talk to my neighbour. Martha grew up in San Francisco, studied in Oregon, and puts syrup on everything. When we part ways on the concourse of Gare du Nord – she to lunch with a friend from Wisconsin, me to amble around before continuing towards Turkey – she says the best things about the US are Taylor Swift and meatloaf. It’s good to talk.

For Europeans, fall in America looks like the stuff of wanderlust, with fiery trees and pumpkin spice lattes à la Gilmore Girls. 

One day in 2021, Megan Clawson was walking home from a night out when she was inspired to record a video on her phone.

It turns out that luxury London hotels are like buses. You wait ages for one to open, and then two, or in this case several, come at once.

With its mild, pleasant climate, charming English Channel island Jersey, just off the coast of Normandy, is an excellent weekend break destination as it’s a very short flight from London. The landscape is varied, from rugged coastlines to pristine beaches and the history is fascinating, with castles, including Elizabeth Castle, where King Charles II hid during the English Civil War and bunkers from German-occupied Jersey in World War II. As a tax haven, it’s probably better served than similar islands of its size, with some lovely hotels, shops and good restaurants, including one with a Michelin star.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, September 12. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Overlooking the English Channel is a small resort town bedecked with freestone facades and half-timbered houses. English is heard everywhere, from the Art Deco Westminster hotel to the lighthouse, which, on the occasion of the late Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, was lit up with Her Majesty's favourite colours. The bells of city hall chime in an echo of Big Ben, and it was just announced that the town's airport will soon be rechristened after Queen Elizabeth II.

London is a vibrant, culturally diverse and perpetually evolving city made up of a series of interconnected, but independent, neighborhoods. In all, London is broken up into 32 boroughs that make up what is known as Greater London. Within those 32 boroughs there are roughly 48 neighborhoods as some straddle between two boroughs.

Raffles London at The OWO is set to open in London on Friday 29th September, the first hotel in the UK for Raffles Hotels & Resorts.

London has a reputation as one of the most eye-wateringly expensive cities to visit in Europe. Its fame and global appeal have long made it a top ‘bucket list’ destination, with jacked-up accommodation prices and exorbitantly priced experiences, from swanky fine dining to designer shopping.

For locals, it's a well-known fact that many of the UK capital’s best attributes are completely free to enjoy. In London you can walk through two millennia of history, delve into a cornucopia of treasures, go on a music and art odyssey, and soak in some of the most iconic views on Earth – all without spending a single penny. Here’s where to start.