How about THIS? Shangri-La at The Shard, London, has just had its first ‘open again weekend’. The luxury hotel, managed with superb creativity by Kurt Macher, ran 90% occupancy and on Saturday night had 35 marriage proposals! The Renzo Piano-designed building is 66 floors (1,1016 feet) high and the 202 rooms, on floors 34 to 52, all have stunning views – above, a view from a bedroom far far down to Tower Bridge across the River Thames.
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Girlahead loves creativity and now is the time for thinking outside the box. Swedish designer Alexander Lervik, who is based in Stockholm, wanted to create chemistry in social distancing. The result is two hand-shaped ‘white pebbles’, which he calls Tactus Lamps. They are connected by 5G WiFi. When one is turned on it glows red – as does the second light, which shows its owner, who may be many miles away, that the other person is thinking of him. Perfect, says Girlahead, for a lone traveller. Leave the second pebble at home and, from time, the home-bound can have the person-away in their thoughts.
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In Mauritius, passionate people of the luxury LUX* Hotels & Resorts, SALT Resorts and Tamassa Resorts, have rushed to cut their hair – together with locals, they have donated five tonnes of hair for booms to stem the catastrophic flow of oil (Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio, which ran aground on one of the island’s famed coral reefs, has broken up, causing an ecological emergency). LUX* is also working with British photographer Mark Read to sell prints to benefit Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. There are endangered plant species and vulnerable birdlife includes 12 critically-endangered Olive White-eyes and six Mauritius Fodies, and it is estimated that recovery from the spill will take at least ten years.
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