by James Balston | Jun 4, 2014 | Architecture, Bars, Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Cityscape, Hotels, Restaurants, Spas, Travel
Thanks to overbooking on the part of a certain budget airline, I nearly didn’t make it to Amsterdam, to shoot the wonderful new Waldorf Astoria. Getting there involved a dash from Gatwick to City airport to catch another flight instead. Once there, I had my... 
by James Balston | Jun 17, 2013 | Architecture, Bars, Cityscape, Hotels, Restaurants, Spas, Travel
That was the memorable title of a 1969 film in which a tour guide, played by Ian McShane, herds a coachload of American tourists around 9 European countries in 18 days. Hardly a holiday, the schedule required the poor travellers to be up at the crack of dawn each day,... 
by James Balston | Feb 19, 2013 | Bars, Hotels, Restaurants
Slicing diagonally through Manhattan, Broadway is known the world over, for its bright lights, theatres, Times Square, and ticker tape parades. And like all Manhattan streets, it just seems to go on forever. But what of London’s Broadway? If you knew about it at... 
by James Balston | Sep 27, 2012 | Architecture, Bathrooms, Bedrooms, Hotels
Birmingham was looking rather more like Barcelona when I last visited on a glorious day in May. With an array of impressive new buildings, the city is at last beginning to shed its former grotty image, and to compete with other exciting European destinations. However,... 
by James Balston | Sep 6, 2012 | Bars, London
David Collins, United Designers, Martin Brudnizki, 3 of the biggest names in the commercial interiors sector, who, between them have designed some of the smartest bars and restaurants in London. You will almost certainly have been to at least one of them. Designer,...