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Luxury for less
 Luxury doesn't have to break the bank
You don’t have to be posh to treat yourself to a taste of luxury now and again. In fact, there are all sorts of ways to get a piece of poshness without paying top dollar for the privilege. Whether you want to buy designer clothes, travel in style or just hang out in the haunts of the rich and famous, the following deals will help you enjoy a bit of extravagance without splashing out as much as you might think. Seen a deal you think should be included? Tell us or tell the world. If you're not already a subscriber, sign up for our free newsletter to get the latest updates on getting luxury for less. SilverJet Sale Off to New York or Dubai? The SilverJet summer sale has prices starting at £999 business class return for both destinations. You can travel up to the 6th of September but you've got to book by May 31st to get the discounts. Enjoy! Luxury Blankets for less Just Blankets has amazing deals on pure Cashmere blankets. The 180cm x 140cm blanket is trimmed with soft alcantara suede and weighs 650 grams. It is a steal at £169! Especially if you compare it to a very similar blanket available at The White Company going for £595. If you are looking for an even better deal why not pick up one of their Lambswool and Angora blankets which are woven on traditional looms in Scotland using the highest grade lambswool mixed with 25% Angora for extra softness. These blankets are almost as soft as Cashmere, but with a much softer price tag of only £94.00. If you have a friend that is expecting, they have the most adorable cashmere baby blankets that can be embroidered for a personal effect. It makes the perfect gift at £99.
Luxury interior design for less Free Luxury Spa Travel Bag Moneymagpie reader deals at Oceānico Resorts & Leisure Dine at the Ritz with Lastminute.com The Ritz has teamed up with Lastminute.com to offer you some deals to eat in their restaurant that aren’t as extravagantly expensive as the decor might suggest. They are offering a menu du jour lunch with three courses for £35. The menu changes daily and has a choice of two starters, mains and desserts, which means if you go with someone else, you can try everything on the menu! You can also get a ticket to the exhibition currently on at the Royal Academy of Arts, for just £10 more. For something a little lighter, you can indulge yourself in an afternoon tea (bizarrely only available at 11.30am and 7:30pm) for £37 per person which includes piles of delicately prepared finger sandwiches, many pots of tea and lashings of cream and scones. You'll take your tea in the Palm Court which is a famous but very secretive venue where no filming is allowed and not only must you be dressed appropriately, but you have to refrain from using your mobile phone. If you prefer an evening meal, there is a deal for a three course pre-theatre menu for £43. Get a personal shopper - for free If you think that personal shoppers are only for the rich and famous, think again. Topshop has a style advisor service in its bigger stores around the country where you can book an appointment online or by phone. When you turn up for your appointment, you will be shown into the private style advisor shopping suites and you’ll be able to discuss what you want with your advisor. They will then go off into the store to find you lovely things to try, or if you don’t fancy lounging around in the suite, you can go too and get a bit more involved. Then all you have to do is try on the clothes and see if there’s anything you like. The service is free and you have no obligation to buy anything, but if you do want to, you will skip the queue and they’ll wrap all your purchases properly for no extra charge. It’s a great way to get some things that perhaps you wouldn’t have thought of wearing before and it’s certainly not the slog that shopping can sometimes be. But best of all, it’s luxury for less. Click here to book yourself an appointment. Discount designer clothes sales If you’re a die-for-designer kind of person, but only got the cash for a couple of pieces a year, you could stock up your wardrobe more frequently by checking out Designer Sales UK, a company which organises discount designer sales all year round. It stocks a massive range of top designers, such as Galliano, Stella McCartney, Orla Kiely and Dolce & Gabbana to name just a few. You also can get your hands on one-offs, returned items, showroom samples and even toiles, which are prototypes that never made it into production; all the kinds of things you can’t get in the main stores. All you’ve got to do to get the information about the sales is sign up for their newsletter and it will come winging its way straight to your inbox. Check out when the next sale is here. BrandAlley works with over 140 designer brands and offer their rather nice stuff to you at 30-70% less than the original retail price. They have different labels and types of clothing (lingerie, designer sunglasses etc.) on sale each week, as their sales only last around three or four days. Sign up to get emailed what's being offered when. The site is pretty new and to encourage you to tell your friends about it, they'll give you a £5 voucher to spend for each time one of your recommended friends makes their first purchase. Secret Sales is a free online club which organises exclusive sales - typically between 30% and 80%off - for its members. And it's not just bargain luxury clothes you can get your money-saving mitts on - they also sell home wares, sports equipment, electronics, travel items, jewellery, and children's things. They'll also email you a reminder on the day the sales go live. It might be harder work shifting through the fakes and non-designer stuff, but eBay's always worth a trawl for luxury bargains. You can often get Chloe, Chanel, Jaeger, Miu Miu etc. - second hand and new - for hundreds less than what they'd cost you from the net. For top tips on how to bag a designer bargain there, see Nicky Peckham's new eBay blog.
SilverJet is a relatively new airline that flies between London and New York and London and Dubai and offers business-class-only flight. This means that the business passengers do not have to subsidise the seat price of economy with their fares, so you can end up paying significantly less for the same level of luxury as you would get in the business class section on other airline flights. SilverJet has private terminals, so you won't have to fight your way through hordes of other travellers, and a 30-minute check in, which saves you hanging around at the airport with nothing to do. The airline flies between Luton and Newark with return flights starting at £1,099, compared to British Airways' starting price of £1,299, so flying with them will leave you £200 extra to spend on shopping in the Big Apple. Click here to find out more. The Haymarket Hotel just off Piccadilly Circus in London is a gorgeous boutique hotel in the heart of London's West End with 50 bedrooms and suites that have each been uniquely decorated. The rooms can be pretty pricey, but many people don't know about the gorgeous poolside bar in the basement, which is open to the general public and not just residents of the hotel. Anyone can go into the bar during opening hours to sit in the warmth in one of the comfy loungers next to the water and enjoy a cocktail or a cool glass of wine whilst the light installation changes the colours and mood of the room constantly. What's more, because so few people know about it, it's practically deserted during the week, so it's like having your own private swimming pool (although only residents of the hotel are allowed to take a dip). The bar isn't particularly cheap, but definitely worth the gorgeous surroundings. To check opening times and how to get to the hotel, click here. First-class rail travel on a standard-class ticket You can travel like a first class passenger without buying the ticket on two out of the three main service providers in the UK, all you've got to is buy dinner on the train. But we don't mean a BLT and a pack of crisps. On both National Express East Coast (formerly GNER) and First Great Western, there are luxury dining car services available on certain routes where you can enjoy a gourmet feast in the luxury of the first class carriages. These restaurants are open to all ticket holders (although if the restaurant is busy, first class ticket holders will be given priority) and so you can ditch your tiny seat in standard class, and spread out in the dining car. The only cost is what you pay for the meal, but even if you bought a first class ticket, you wouldn't get the meal for free, so it's like getting the first class service plus a meal for much less than the first class ticket on its own. Main courses on FGW start at £13.95 and on National Express you can get two courses for £24, and three courses for £29. Unfortunately, Virgin doesn't have restaurant cars on its trains. But on the other services, all that's left for you to do is order a bottle of wine and linger over your yummy food until you arrive at your destination. To check which services the restaurants are available on, go to FGW or National Express. Winter holidays 2008/9 with Club Med Club Med is an upmarket version of your standard package holiday, where you can jet around the world and stay in gorgeous accommodation all for much less than a full on luxury holiday would cost you. They have destinations all over the world that are tailored to the needs of different holiday goers, so if you want peace and quiet, you won't end up in a resort with lots of screaming children. The prices for the packages also includes everything you need whilst you are away; activities and food and drink. From the 11th of March, Club Med is offering early booking bonuses when you book your winter holiday for 2008 or 2009. You can save up to £200 per adult on bookings for their luxury collection resorts in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, Asia or the Mediterranean or £150 on their best skiing resorts in Italy, France or Switzerland and their Winter sun resorts in Morocco. Related Articles |
Jasmine and the Moneymagpie Team
Moneymagpie Moneypedia
14.07.2008
