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Lamborghini is hitting the record books just half way into the year, selling a whopping 2,013 cars in the first six months. The month of June alone saw them deliver 416 cars, which is quite a feat for a single month. There has been a considerable leap from the corresponding period of the last year, when Lamborghini had sold 1882 cars in the first six months. The jump in sales, has been attributed in part to the expansion of the Huracán family, the introduction of the Spyder as well as the rear-wheel drive version to the international market. The V12 Aventador has also boosted sales orders right to the top. The country with the highest call for Lamborghini’s came from the United States followed closely by Japan and the United Kingdom coming, with China as the fourth biggest market.

If you’re planning a vacation in Iceland, there’s something even better to look forward to. Canopy by Hilton, Hilton’s new lifestyle brand, along with Icelandair Hotels, has announced the opening of the world’s first Canopy hotel in the city of Reykjavik. Canopy by Hilton Reykjavik City Centre is centrally located on Hverfisgata Street, a thriving area in the heart of the city. With its backdrop of dramatic volcanic landscapes, the city already has much to offer, and Canopy by Hilton provides the icing on the cake. Designed as a natural extension of Hverfisgata Street, with local design influences and natural materials, the hotel is surrounded by iconic attractions such as Laugavegur, the landmark street for shopping and cuisine, Harpa Concert Hall and Convention Center, as well as from Old Reykjavik Harbor and its incredible views of Mount Esja. What’s more, guests can watch the stunning show of Aurora Borealis from October through March near the hotel, as well as Iceland’s famous midnight sun during the summer months. The hotel has 112 rooms and suites designed to fit in with neighbourhood culture. The interior reveal shades of ocean blue and grey volcanic rock, decorated with local twists such as a little Reykjavik Music Boxes to lull guests to sleep. The hotel provides complimentary bicycles for guest use, and on site Enthusiasts can recommend local routes to explore the city and surrounding trails.

FANTASTIC TEAS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM | From Shakespeare to Carroll and Capability Brown, these UK hotels add a dash of fantasy to the afternoon tea

The year 2016 is England’s time to celebrate the year of the garden and the 300th anniversary of Capability Brown—18th century English landscape architect, famous for being ‘England’ greatest gardener’. Some of the most ultra-luxe hotels from the Hallmark Group in England are celebrating this occasion with the introduction of delightful, quirky afternoon teas with innovative themes. You might just want to plan a visit to the UK this summer.

Shakespeare inspired Countess Afternoon Tea at The Welcombe

One of the greatest appeals of The Welcombe, part of the Hallmark group of hotels, is its Shakespearean connections and proximity to Stratford Upon Avon, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death this year. So, in a move that commemorates the Bard and the year of the garden together, the hotel has come up with the Countess Afternoon Tea that derives its inspiration from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The indulgent tea features a selection of luxury finger sandwiches & open rolls, homemade scones with the hotel’s finest jam & clotted cream, delicate afternoon tea pastries, petit fours & of course, macaroon. Add to that endless leaf tea or filter coffee and a glass & top up of chilled prosecco and you have a blissful combination. We’re already having visions of a dainty paradise.

The Welcombe Countess Afternoon Tea is priced at £32.50. Bookings can be made at welcombe.res@hallmarkhotels.co.uk

The Welcombe Summer Afternoon Gin Tea

The Welcombe has another tea-option for the summer, with the launch of its Summer Afternoon Gin Tea. The tea will be a quirky twist on the English classic, swapping the traditional glass of high tea fizz for a refreshing Hendricks gin and tonic, presented in a china tea pot over ice and lemon, alongside luxury finger sandwiches, miniature open rolls, freshly baked scones, the hotel’s finest jam, clotted cream, delicate pastries, petit fours, and a macaroon, as well as the obligatory endless loose leaf tea of your choice (or coffee). Served overlooking the hotel’s 150 acres of stunning landscaped gardens gardens, fountains and water features, the grounds provide the perfect backdrop against which to enjoy this quintessentially English tradition.

As for the price, you can savour the Summer Afternoon Tea at £35.00, and you can also opt for the entire experience of an overnight stay with breakfast at The Welcombe, through the Luxury Countryside Escape priced upward of £145.00.

Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea at the Hallmark Hull

You just can’t think of tea without invoking the strangely fantastic tea party of the March Hare and the Mad Hatter that Alice attended. With the new Alice Through The Looking Glass film refreshing Lewis Carroll’s creations, the Hallmark Hull is celebrating the opening of its picturesque outdoor dining terrace this summer by launching the quirky Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea. Savour a selection of assorted finger sandwiches and wraps including Ham & Pickle, Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Cheese & Chutney & Egg Mayo & Rocket, freshly baked Scones and Strawberry Jam, Lemon Curd & Devonshire clotted cream, Home Made Mushroom meringues, Savoury Scotch Egg and Boiled Egg/Tomato Toadstool. There’s even an ‘Eat Me’ popping candy cupcake and ‘Drink Me’ strawberry syrup to transport you right back to Wonderland— complete with a pot of tea or coffee. Those looking to upgrade the experience can add a touch of bubbles and opt for the Mad Hatter High Tea. The Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea is priced at £17.50 while the Mad Hatter High Tea can be had for £22.50.

Afternoon Tea by the Sea at Hallmark Bournemouth Carlton

What’s better than afternoon tea in a landscaped garden? Afternoon tea with a seaside view overlooking the beautiful seascapes of Bournemouth. Located just a short cliff lift from the beach and overlooking the stunning vistas of the East Cliff, the Afternoon Tea by the Sea at Bournemouth Carlton consists of seaside favourites such as candy floss, cola cubes and marshmallows, accompanied by sandwiches, homemade scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream – all paired with a pot of tea or coffee and a delicious glass of prosecco, glass of Pimms or house Champagne. The Afternoon tea by the Sea comes served with a glass of prosecco at £19.50 per person. You could opt to go with a glass of house Champagne, at £22.00 per person, or a glass of Pimms No 1 at £18.50 per person

Countryside Royal Tea at Flitwick Manor

We recently informed you about the delightful Afternoon tea on offer at Flitwick Manor, a charming countryside manor, which is boutique in size. The Manor features 18 individually designed bedrooms that boast four poster beds, with a picturesque outdoor dining terrace, and croquet lawn for a classic English afternoon, straight out of a Lewis Carroll storybook. The hotel’s Royal Afternoon Tea, fit for a Lord or Lady of the Manor, comes complete with glass of champagne, luxury finger sandwiches, freshly baked miniature pastries and scones, and endless loose leaf tea or coffee. Flitwick Manor Royal Afternoon Tea comes at £29.50 and includes glass of Champagne too.

The McLaren 507S Sprint has made a grand debut at The Goodwood Festival of Speed. This is a heavily revised, track-only version of McLaren’s compact Sports Series supercar, the 570S. McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt, calls it a chance for people to own a true McLaren race car. The 507 S Sprint brings this experience to a new group of customers. The car which is a racer’s dream is built only for the track, bypassing the legalities that accompany a vehicle fit for use on public roads, and also without the restrictions of any race series. Power and torque levels have been optimised to ensure the ultimate levels of driver engagement and the best levels of noise, too. The car boasts major aerodynamic changes—based on the ‘shrink-wrapped’ design of the 570S Coupé, the 570S Sprint features an air piercing front bumper which separates the airflow above, below and through the bodywork, while the intricate design of the ‘floating’ door tendons channel air into the side-mounted radiators. There’s also the huge, fixed wing rear spoiler which, according to McLaren, generates the highest levels of downforce ever seen on one of its Sports Series cars. An FIA-approved rollcage adds further protection to the lightweight carbon fibre MonoCell II chassis. All of this comes with a price tag of £148,000 ($218,000).

A pair of shoes with looks straight-off from outer space. We’re talking about Puma’s latest line in the Disc franchise, the X-CAT Disc sneakers. The Disc technology is a Puma innovation that uses a rotating dial with hidden wires to tighten the shoe instead of laces. The sneakers themselves are based on BMW’s GINA Light Visionary Model—a concept car unveiled by the brand in 2008, which is fantastically covered in fabric instead of metal body panels. Like the GINA, the X-CAT sneakers are covered in a single, seamless, metallic fabric. The laser-cutting across the front of the shoe is designed to resemble the “gill-like texture” that appears on the concept car when the doors are opened—and the BMW logo sits grandly on the X-CAT’s disc. As the sneakers were designed for driving, they feature rolled heels for quick pedal work – just like the Speed Cat, Future Cat, and Drift Cat that Puma furnishes to the likes of BMW Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, and Scuderia Ferrari. You can lay your hands..er.. feet on these Star Trek-ish shoes on Puma’s website as well as in select stores selling the collection.

Jungle House in Sao Paolo is a feat of design-brilliance from the house of Studio MK27, nestled within a clearing in the dense vegetation of the mountainous terrain along the coastline. The primary living spaces have been placed on the building’s uppermost floor—alongside the gorgeous infinity pool—to take full advantage of the scenic landscape. The uppermost floor , which is actually a glazed box with an overhanging roof – contains the kitchen, dining room and lounge. The pool stands to one side, alongside the patio, and on the other side lies a deliciously inviting circular hot tub. The pool is partially submerged into the floor but has a raised border that brings it slightly above the floor level of the deck. Glass balustrades frame the space, allowing swimmers to enjoy the view. Bedrooms are set within the main volume of the house – a board-marked concrete block that is elevated over a wooden deck, but that rests one end on a stony step in the terrain. Leafy fronds from the adjacent jungle creep over the edge of the decking, softening its edges, while a flight of steps at the back of the space leads up over a stony step into the house. Inside the stairwell, the textured concrete walls are illuminated by an artwork by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. A Jungle Heaven indeed.

With all sorts of elegant, extravagant, limited edition pens sweeping us off our feet, it was about time the graceful wooden pencil got a design upgrade, too. It’s not really as humble as you’d imagine it to be—the pencil is the tool of choice for some of the most creative minds. So the pencil+ comes as a more-than-pleasant surprise now: in the words of its creators, this is “The last sharpener, extender, eraser and holder your pencil will ever need.” Confused? Well, this is an ingenious multitool for your writing instrument, which extends any length/type of pencil to its full size, so you can use it until its very tiniest or “until it retires at 14mm.” Interestingly, the pencil+ has an integrated sharpener and a hidden eraser too. What’s more, it gives you a delightful array of wood selections to choose from — beautiful, fine woods, like teak, ebony, wild olive, African padauk or Indonesian redwood. Hooked? You will soon be able to pre-order these at Kickstarter.

Italian luxury menswear brand Isaia, which debuted at Madison Avenue in New York in September, is all set to enter the Indian luxury market. Along with made-to-measure menswear, the brand also offers sportswear, along with retailing brands like Swiss luxury watch brand Bovet and British shoemaker John Lobb besides Italian suit brand Kiton. With monobrand stores spreading from Milan and New York to Moscow and Hong Kong, the brand produces its garments only in Italy in Casalnuovo di Napoli, with its famous logo of the legendary red coral. To be distributed in India by Mumbai based Regalia Luxury, Isaia will be retailed on request in Delhi.

The Indian Luxury Expo, showcasing the most exquisite brand of luxury cars, bikes, perfumes, jewelry and much more, will kick off in Vizag tomorrow, July 2. The Expo, referred to as just TILE, brings together leading luxury brands across 20 lifestyle segments at a single patform. A plush, three-day affair, TILE boasts of a black, white and grey dress theme, in conjunction with a perfect setting that measures and breathes luxury. All of this comes mixed with sumptuous food, stand-up comedy, plays, live music and champagne. Guests visiting the show are invited via personal invitation. The inaugural expo hosted in Hyderabad showcased 50 brands that cut across various segments. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is the industry partner for the Visakhapatnam edition of the event.

The uncertainty and confusion surrounding Brexit has led to a fall in the values of luxury property in London’s best districts. Properties in neighborhoods defined as prime central London dropped 1.4 percent in the three months through June, according to broker Savills Plc. Lucian Cook, the broker’s head of residential research, added that the UK’s decision to quit the EU has led to a weakening of the pound, prompting some overseas buyers to re-enter London’s luxury-property market. Conflicting signals have mired the impact of Brexit in confusion, which is expected to recede only in the later months of the year.

(Source: www.bloomberg.com)